Thursday, May 10, 2007

Laure Manaudou, 20, French Swim Star Elopes w Italian Boyfriend, Luca Marin.-To Swim for Italy?

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Laure's  move provoked fury in France and embarrassment in Italy.  The Diplomatic and Sports Telephone lines are abuzz.

 

Italy's Swim Coach is not sure he even wants Laure, and help her against Italian prodigy Federica Pellegrini.

 

This is a Soap Opera !!!!!!!!    Read about the various ramifications. It gets complicated!

 

 

Laure Elopes to Italy, Tells France that's Amore

  • The Australian
  • Adam Sage
  • May 11, 2007

LAURE MANAUDOU, one of the stars of the world swimming championships in Melbourne in March, has plunged French sport into disarray and provoked a diplomatic wrangle by eloping with her handsome Italian boyfriend, Luca Marin.

Manaudou, who holds three world records, announced that she had quit her club in Canet, southern France, for "the love of my life".

"I am choosing l'amour," said the 20-year-old, who is carrying French hopes for the Beijing Olympics next year after winning gold, silver and bronze at the Athens Games in 2004 and a swag of medals in Melbourne.

"I want to live with him and have a child with him."

At a press conference yesterday, Manaudou said she would train at LaPress swimming club in Turin, which is reported to have offered her a contract worth E400,000 ($654,000) a year.

As her move provoked fury in France and embarrassment in Italy, the champion discovered the course of true love never did run smooth.

French officials believe the Italians will push Manaudou into a marriage with Marin so she acquires Italian nationality and can swim for Italy.

For that reason they have been pressuring her to return. Jean-Francois Lamour, the French Sports Minister, said: "It would be good if she realised that in the interests of sport she should stay in Canet."

The French authorities have also been seeking to influence the Italian Swimming Federation, whose president, Paolo Barelli, was phoned by France's ambassador in Rome. After the call, his enthusiasm for Manaudou appeared to wane.

"You should not take decisions with youthful impetuosity which you realise afterwards were not thought through," Barelli said.

Italy's most esteemed swimming coach, Alberto Castagnetti, also said he was loath to take Manaudou under his wing and help her against Italian prodigy Federica Pellegrini.

"Manaudou's love is very embarrassing for France and Italy," he said. "If Manaudou became Italian then it would be different."

However, that comment sparked further ire in Paris, where Manaudou's patriotism was called into question after she wore an Italian swimming cap in an international competition last year.

Amid the furore, Manaudou was adamant that she would not abandon her French passport, saying: "I'm going to swim for France."

Despite the qualms of the Italian federation, which has no desire to cross swords with its French counterpart, LaPress is determined to attract the swimmer.

The club managers believe the financial rewards will be significant, given Manaudou's earning power.

This was illustrated when she obtained a E1million-a-year contract to carry out modelling work for the French billionaire Francois Pinault, the owner of Gucci.

But as often in love affairs, there is a jilted party - in this case Manaudou's tough French coach, Philippe Lucas, whose training program includes making her swim up to 17km a day.

"I'm not sad," Lucas said yesterday. "There's no problem."

However, he told reporters that Manaudou had failed to train for the past five weeks and would need to put in extra work over the next four months to be a chance in Beijing.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

story/0,20867,21709330-2722,00.html

 

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