Thursday, August 09, 2007

Laure Manaudou, The French "Mermaid" Out of Water in Italy ??

The ANNOTICO Report

 Laure Manaudou, the 20-year-old French swimming star, as a Olympic gold medallist and holder of the world freestyle records for 200 and 400 metres, was voted favourite sports personality of 2006, is Frances best medal hope for 2008 and earns more than 1.5 million (#1 million) a year as a model for luxury brands.  

But Laure fled France to be with her Italian boyfriend, and was immediately signed by the LaPresse club in Turin,  

But after three bumpy months, the Turin club has dismissed her after a grim performance and her behavior at a Paris Open championship last weekend. 

She has some serious soul searching to do now.

Italy's Love Fades for the French Mermaid

The London Times

Charles Bremner in Paris

August 8, 2007

She is revered as la sirhne (mermaid) and carries the hopes of France on her shoulders into the 2008 Olympics.

But the turbulent personal life of the the 20-year-old swimming star Laure Manaudou has thrown her future into doubt after she was dropped by her club for laziness and a bad attitude.

In May, the Olympic gold medallist and holder of the world freestyle records for 200 and 400 metres fled France to be with her Italian boyfriend and was immediately signed up by the LaPresse club in Turin.

Her sudden departure and her break with Philippe Lucas, her long-time trainer, shocked her country and drew charges that a French national treasure had been "kidnapped" by the Italians.

Manaudou said then that she would never return. "Between Italy and France, I have chosen Luca Marin, the love of my life," she said. "I want to live with him and have a baby."

But after three bumpy months, the Turin club has dismissed her after a grim performance at a Paris Open championship last weekend. "Laure Manaudou has been excluded because of her behaviour at the Paris Open," it said. As the sports world faced the possibility that the headstrong Manadou might retire, the media urged la sirhne to come home, and to her senses, in time to train for Beijing.

The stakes are high because Manaudou, who was voted favourite sports personality of 2006, is Frances best medal hope for 2008 and earns more than 1.5 million (#1 million) a year as a model for luxury brands.

For us, this is meltdown," said Claude Fauquet, technical director of the French swimming federation. "If she does not restore her peace of mind quickly and work hard in September, Laure is heading for disaster. The margin of manoeuvre is already very tight. She has not trained much recently and has lost muscle mass."

While the swimmer, who is 5ft 11ins (1.5metres) and weighs 11= stone (73kg), holidayed in seclusion yesterday, Jean-Luc Manaudou, her father and manager, said that he had persuaded her to come to France to train under Nicolas, her 21-year-old brother.

The news did little to calm fears because "the best woman swimmer in French history" as Le Monde called her - she took the gold medal for the 400-metre freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics - is thought to have lost her will to win since her troubles multiplied last May.

She blamed Lucas, the coach who had groomed her since she was 14 in the southwestern town of Le Canet. "I could no longer physically bear it," she said of the 10 miles a day that Lucas required of her. In Italy, Manaudou settled down briefly before quarrelling openly with her new coach and refusing to take part in certain events in Paris last weekend.

The swimming world wants Lucas, a blunt-spoken character, to take her back, but this is considered unlikely.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2217948.ece

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