Laure Manaudou (born October 9, 1986 in Villeurbanne) is a French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer.
Manaudou currently holds the world record for the 400 m freestyle and 200 m freestyle.
She won the gold medal in the women's 400 m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was France's first ever gold medal in women's swimming and the first swimming gold medal won by a French man or woman since Jean Boiteux's triumph in the 400 m men's freestyle event in Helsinki in 1952. Manaudou won the silver medal in the women's 800 m freestyle at the same Olympics. In that race, she had a quick start but was passed down the stretch by Ai Shibata from Japan. She took the bronze medal at the women's 100 m backstroke. She thus became only the second Frenchwoman to win three medals in a single Summer or Winter Olympic Games, the first being was the track and field athlete Micheline Ostermeyer in London in 1948.
She is currently tied for second (three medals altogether) on the all-time list of French multiple female Winter or Summer Olympic medal winners along with Micheline Ostermeyer, Marielle Goitschel, Pascale Trinquet-Hachin, Perrine Pelen, Anne Briand-Bouthiaux, Marie-José Pérec, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli and Félicia Ballanger. The all-time leader is the fencer Laura Flessel-Colovic, who has five Olympic medals.
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