Florent Manaudou (French pronunciation:[flɔʁɑ̃manodu]; born 12 November 1990) is a French competitiveswimmer, an Olympic champion of the50-meter freestyle at the2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother ofLaure Manaudou, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in swimming. He competes for theEnergy Standard Swim Club in theInternational Swimming League.
Manaudou is the son of a French father and aDutch mother. He first began swimming under the direction of his older brother, Nicolas, and later joined the swimming club of Marseilles, France. In 2007, he was the French junior champion in the 50-meter freestyle event. In 2009, he joined theFrench Army and is currently in an artillery regiment. In 2022, Manaudou transitioned to competing for CN Antibes after formerly swimming only for theCN Marseille (CNM) swim club.[2] As of 2023, he continues to compete for CN Marseille in contests such as the Belgian Open Swimming Championships.[1]
He and his sister,Laure, are the first siblings to both win Olympic gold medals in swimming.
For his performance in 2012, Manaudou was awarded the Knight of the French National Order of theLégion d'Honneur in recognition of his "eminent merits" in swimming.[3]
In September 2021, Manaudou announced his engagement to his then-girlfriend,Danish swimmer and Olympic gold medalistPernille Blume.[4][5] The following month, Manaudou was present in the audience to support Blume as she competed in the dancing competitionVild med dans.[6] Manaudou and Blume are no longer together, their relationship ending sometime before June 2024.[7]
In his only individual event at the2011 World Aquatics Championships inShanghai, the 50-meter butterfly, Manaudou placed fifth in the final with a time of 23.49.[8] It was slightly slower than the times he posted in the heats (23.31) and semifinals (23.32).[9][10] Manaudou also competed in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay and as the butterfly leg, had a split of 54.02. The French team did not advance to the final with an overall time of 3:36.21.[11]
| 2012 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | 50 m freestyle | 21.34 |
At the French Olympic Trials, Manaudou qualified for the2012 London Olympics inLondon by finishing second behindAmaury Leveaux in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.95. Despite entering the Olympics with only the 10th fastest time in the men's 50-meter freestyle in the world that year, Manaudou won the gold medal in that event (which was the only event he entered). He thus became the first French gold-medalist of the men's 50-meter freestyle and the sixth French Olympic champion in an individual event.[12] Swimming in lane 7 in the final, Manaudou had a time of 21.34 seconds, finishing ahead of second-place finisherCullen Jones and third-place finisherCésar Cielo, the defending champion and world record holder, to win the gold medal.[13] Manaudou's time was slightly slower than the Olympic record of 21.30 set by Cielo in 2008, but was an unofficialfastest time swam in textile (that is, not wearing ahigh-tech suit). Going into the final, Manaudou recorded a time of 22.09 in the heats and 21.80 in the semifinals.[14][15]
| 2012 World Short Course Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
 | 50 m freestyle | 20.88 |
 | 50 m breaststroke | 26.33 |
Following the Olympics, Manaudou competed at the2012 European Short Course Championships and the2012 World Short Course Championships held at the end of 2012. At the European Championships in Chartres, Manaudou won five gold medals including an individual title in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 20.70.[16] At the World Short Course Championships in Istanbul, Manaudou won one silver and bronze medal. In his specialty event, the 50-meter freestyle, Manaudou placed second behind Russian swimmerVladimir Morozov (who he beat in Chartres) by three tenths of a second (0.33) with a time of 20.88.[17]
At the2013 World Aquatics Championships inBarcelona, Manaudou won gold in the4×100-meter freestyle relay withYannick Agnel,Fabien Gilot, andJérémy Stravius. Swimming the second leg, Manaudou recorded a time of 47.93 while the French team had an aggregated time of 3:11.18. In the50-meter freestyle, Manaudou lead the heats and semifinals with times of 21.72 and 21.37. In the final however, he finished 5th with a time of 21.64. Manaudou also competed in the50-meter butterfly and finished 8th with a time of 23.35.
| 2014 World Short Course Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 20.26 (WR) |
| 50 m backstroke | 22.22 (WR) |
| 4x100 m freestyle | 3:03.78 (ER,CR) |
| 100 m freestyle | 45.81 |
| 4x50 m medley | 1:31.25 (ER) |
| 4x100 m medley | 3:22.26 |
Manaudou won six medals at the2014 World Short Course Championships (including three golds) and four gold medals at the2014 European Aquatics Championships inBerlin. At the World Short Course Championships, Manaudou broke the firstworld records of his career in the 50-meter backstroke and freestyle.
Manaudou won three gold medals at the2015 World Aquatics Championships inKazan, including the 50 m freestyle where he swam thefastest time ever in textile in 21.19.
| 2016 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 21.41 |
| 4x100 m freestyle | 3:10.53 |
Manaudou failed in his bid to qualify for the2016 Olympic Games 100m freestyle when he only finished third at the French national championships held on 1 April inMontpellier. He had been hoping to pull off a 50m-100m freestyle double at the 2016 Olympic Games inRio de Janeiro but his time of 48.10sec was bettered byJérémy Stravius (47.97) andClement Mignon (48.01). Only the top two finishers would qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. Manaudou, the reigning Olympic/World/European champion in the 50m freestyle, had been the second fastest over the 100m freestyle this season.[18]
However, he qualified to represent France in the 50 m freestyle, where he won silver, and was part of the French 4 × 100 m freestyle team that also won silver.[19]
Manaudou swam with swim clubEnergy Standard as part of theinaugural season of theInternational Swimming League, co-captaining the team alongsideSarah Sjöström. He won races in freestyle, butterfly, and freestyle skins.
| 2020 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 21.55 |
Manaudou qualified for the 50 metre freestyle at the2020 Summer Olympics by winning the 50 metre freestyle at the FFN Golden Tour event 'Camille Muffat' in Marseille, France with a season-best time of 21.72 seconds. At the Olympic Games themselves, inTokyo, Japan in 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, he qualified second fastest from the prelims heats to the semifinals of the50 metre freestyle with a time of 21.65 seconds. In the semifinals the next day, he lowered his time to 21.53 seconds, advancing to the final ranked second overall. In the final Manaudou won the silver medal ahead of bronze medalistBruno Fratus ofBrazil and behind gold medalistCaeleb Dressel of theUnited States with a time of 21.55 seconds, which marked the third-consecutiveOlympic medal Manaudou had won in the 50 metre freestyle at the Olympic Games, after winning thegold medal in 2012 and the silver medal in 2016, then behind gold medalistAnthony Ervin of the United States. He also competed in the4×100 metre freestyle relay where his relay team placed sixth in the final.
At the 2023 Belgian Open Swimming Championships, held in April inAntwerp,Belgium, Manaudou won the gold medal in the 50 metre freestyle on day two with a2023 World Aquatics Championships qualifying time of 21.98 seconds.[20] The third and final day, he won a second gold medal, this time in the 50 metre butterfly with a World Championships qualifying time of 23.42 seconds.[21] Two months later, he placed second in the 50 metre butterfly on the first day of the 2023 French Elite Swimming Championships inRennes, finishing 0.38 seconds behind first-place finisherMaxime Grousset with a time of 23.44 seconds.[22][23][24] Two days later, he achieved a time of 48.12 seconds in the preliminaries of the 100 metre freestyle to rank first before withdrawing from competing in the final.[25] On day five, he won the gold medal and national title in the 50 metre freestyle with a 2023 World Aquatics Championships qualifying time of 21.62 seconds.[26]
Manaudou was the Opening Ceremony flag bearer forFrance along with thediscus throwerMelina Robert at theParis 2024 Olympic Games.[27]
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Florent Manaudou has also appeared on TV series such asVestiaires (France 2) andMunch [fr] (TF1).[30]
In 2018, he appears on TV SeriesSection de recherches (TF1, season 12).[30]
In 2025, Florent Manaudou is participating in the14th season of the French television program "Danse avec les Stars"[31] a show modeled after the international "Dancing with the Stars" format.[32]
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mixed 4 × 50 metres freestyle relay world record-holder 21 October 2013 – 10 November 2013 With:Jérémy Stravius,Mélanie Henique,Anna Santamans | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Men's 50 metre freestyle world record holder (short course) 5 December 2014 – 20 December 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Men's 50 metre backstroke world record holder (short course) 6 December 2014 – present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | French Sportsman of the Year 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Flagbearer for France(withMélina Robert-Michon) Paris 2024 | Succeeded by Incumbent |
Florent Manaudou – Championships, awards and honors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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