Manaudou, 33, Dashes Back For More In 21.54 After 2012 Gold & Silvers In 2016 & 2020ne
Florent Manaudou and Maxime Grousset thundered to home-Olympic team tickets in the 50m freestyle at French Elite Championships in Chartres this evening, their duel in heats and the final practically a snap: respective 21.52 and 21.66 this morning, 21.54 and 21.67 under pressure this evening.
Manaudou, racing for his long-term Marseille and based in Antibes, is 33 and will race at Paris 2024 in front of an adoring French crowd 12 years after gold in the dash at London 2012. History was made that day in 21.34 as Florent joined sister Laure as the first siblings in history to claim Olympic swimming gold medals in solo events. Laure Manaudou claimed her’s at Athens 2004 in the 400m freestyle (as well as silver in the 800m free and bronze in the 100m back) on the way to tasking down the 1988 World record set by American Janet Evans at the Seoul Games.
Since his 21.34 in London, Manaudou has claimed the silver in the 50 free at birth the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020ne Olympics. He also took silver in Rio as a member of the French 4x100m free quartet and along all those years has claimed eight world titles, four long-, four short-course.
In September 2021, he got engaged to Pernille Blume, the Danish sprinter who claimed 50m free Olympic gold at Rio 2016.
He approaches Paris a threat to the sprint crew since more, with Clichy 92’s Grousset, World 100m butterfly champion last year, right there with him and a medal prospect in the two 100m events he will race at a home Games, assuming all goes well in the ‘fly final in the championships curtain-closing session tomorrow evening.
Third home in the Chartres freestyle dash this evening was Manaudou’s Marseille teammate Pierre Labois, ten years the champion’s junior, on 22.18.
The three-way tussle of the night unfolded in a men’s 200m backstroke showdown that ended in the same order and with the same two men with tickets to a home Games in the 100m taking gold and silver once more.
Mewen Tomac, Amiens Metropole, emerged the champion in 1:55.54, with Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Dauphins D’Annecy, fending off a string challenge from Antoine Harlem, of Dauphins Toulouse, third in 1:56.98. Teenager Merlin Ficher, CN Vouziers, is the next wave, on 1:58.10 in fourth today.
Tomac was out in 26.96, with Ndoye-Brouard 0.05sec ahead, a gap about to open up on the second length as Tomac opined on the pressure to turn first in 55.93 to 56.54, Harlem on 57.08. Tomas was .3 faster than his closest rivals to the last turn and the last length hardly budged the battle, all three men retuning at a pace within 0.1sec of each other.
In other finals:
Lara Grangeon, of Dauphins Toulouse, pipped Lilou Ressencourt, of Olympic Nice, 2:09.26 to 2:09.30 in the 200m butterfly, the bronze to Juliette Marchand in 2:11.76.
The women’s 800m freestyle went to Anastasia Kirpichnikova, of Montpellier Metropole, in 8:26.38 ahead of Anna Egorova and Lucile Tessariol, in 8:34.30 and 8:41.62 respectively.
In the non-olympic 50 back, Analia Pigree, Canet, led four on 27s, her 27.61 topping Mary-Ambre Moluh, 100-200 winner Emma Terebo and the winner’s clubmate Pauline Mahieu, in 27.73, 27.90 and 27.95 respectively.