Former Olympic champion Manaudou to quit again

French swimmer Laure Manaudou, the Olympic 400m freestyle champion at the 2004 Athens Games, pictured in 2012, will retire for a second time after next month’s European Championships, the Le Courrier Picard newspaper reported.

LILLE, France - French swimmer Laure Manaudou, the Olympic 400m freestyle champion at the 2004 Athens Games, will retire for a second time after next month’s European Championships, the Le Courrier Picard newspaper reported.

The 26-year-old, who was also a triple world champion, quit for the first time in September 2009 before deciding to get back into the pool in order to race in her third Olympics in London this year.

But she failed to get out of the heats in the 100m and 200m backstroke.

She made her announcement on Friday in Compiegne where she will take part in a short-course event this weekend ahead of the European Championships in Chartres from November 22-25.

“I am swimming here in one of my last events because I will, without doubt, retire after the European Championships,” she told Le Courrier Picard.

In Chartres, Manaudou plans to race in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, but needs to qualify at the French championships to be held at Angers from November 15-18.