Olympic and world champion Laure Manaudou was reduced to tears on Monday after suffering her first defeat in the 400m in nearly four years at the French national championships.
Manaudou, 21, finished just third in the event in which she won gold in Athens four years ago, behind Romanian Camelia Potec and Coralie Balmy, who took the national title. The French swimmer had not been beaten over her favorite distance since June 2004.
“It’s tough. Above all being beaten. I can only say one thing, I’m waiting for the new Arena suit,” Manaudou said after the race.
PHOTO: AFP
Under contract with Arena, Manaudou does not have the new record-breaking swimsuit of rival sponsors including Speedo, which are considered to give swimmers an advantage. But Olympic 200m freestyle champion Potec was also wearing an old-style Arena suit as she blew away the two-time world champion over the distance.
“I can only say one thing, I’m waiting for the new Arena suit,” Manaudou said afterwards.
Manaudou, who lost her world record last month to Italy’s Federica Pellegrini (4:01.53), nevertheless booked her spot for the Olympics with her time of 4 minutes, 6.67 seceonds. Manaudou was leading going into the final 100m before Potec, who has been coached for the past year by Manaudou’s ex-mentor Philippe Lucas, produced a storming finish to touch first in 4:06.08.
Potec did not win the title because she is not French, with Balmy taking the honors by finishing second in 4:06.41. After the medals ceremony, Manaudou did not take part in the photo session with Potec and Balmy as she was comforted in the stands by her parents.
Speedo’s record-breaking suit may have got the backing of swimming’s world governing body, but it has caused a tidal wave of controversy as athletes battle to book their spot in the Beijing Olympics.
The choice is clear — risk wearing a swimsuit that might be slower than your competitors, or break with your sponsor and bid for Olympic gold wearing Speedo’s LZR Racer.
Since it was introduced in February, 19 long-course world records have been set, all but one of those by a swimmer wearing the LZR. Manaudou and Italy’s 100m freestyle world champion Filippo Magnini are just two swimmers who are with rival sponsors Arena.
But the fear of missing out on an Olympic berth has lead some hopefuls to consider jumping ship.
French sprinter Fabien Gilot, one of the leading rivals of world record holder, and compatriot, Alain Bernard in the 100m freestyle, has already made up his mind what he will do.
“[I] didn’t work hard to be beaten by equipment,” said the Frenchman, who is also bidding to clinch a place for Beijing during the French championships in Dunkirk this week.
“It’s sure that we’re not on the same footing ... it’s as if you lined out a 100m sprinter in athletics with studs and the other in baseball boots. I’m not training to be second. Today I’m swimming in Arena. But I won’t lie to you, maybe tomorrow I’ll line out in the semi-final, the heats or the final in something else. If I’m second or even if I don’t take a place in the 100m at the Olympic Games by some hundreds of a second and ahead of me is a Tyr or Speedo suit maybe I’ll regret it [swimming in Arena],” he said.
Gilot said he was prepared to risk a fine.
“I’m not Laure Manaudou. I don’t have a contract which is worth millions. If tomorrow I decide to swim in Tyr or in Speedo, with my club we’re ready for the legal battle. I earn 4,500 euros [US$7,130] a year with Arena. If they want it back, that won’t change my life,” he said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but