French Olympic champion Florent Manaudou in BBC transgender error

Ah the joys of the Internet.

The surprise winner of the 50 metres freestyle, Florent Manaudou, certainly appears to have something of a sexual orientation issue if you read the BBC's initial report on the race.

Florent Manaudou (screenshot TV5 Monde

 

Oh there's a photo of the strapping lad all right - all 1.99 metres of the 21-year-old giving what appears to be a cry of delight after winning in a time 21.34 seconds in a race that, if you blinked, seemed almost to be over before it had begun.

But then read a little further into the piece and that's when you discover that for the BBC, Manaudou - Florent that is - described as "the sister of former Olympic 400m freestyle champion Laure."

(screenshot from BBC site)

OK someone made a silly mistake and probably a person who knows little or nothing about sport - which 12 hours later still hadn't been corrected (perhaps it has by now).

But it brings a smile to the face and it's humbling that even an esteemed broadcaster such as the Beeb can make such a glaring blunder in its effort to be first and not necessarily the most accurate with the news.

It's a Barbie world for Laure Manaudou

France's former Olympic, world and European champion swimmer, Laure Manaudou, will soon be taking on a new role - as the face of a Barbie doll.

According to the website of the monthly French entertainment and cinema magazine, Première, Mattel - the makers of toy which first saw the light of day back in 1959 - have announced the launch of a new Barbie in the image of the 24-year-old with the release set for June 2011.

As far as the toy company is concerned the choice of Manaudou was an easy one as she "embodies the values advocated by the famous doll; namely those of effort, the desire to test limits and achieve her dreams."

"Vindication," wrote the weekly French magazine Paris Match, for a woman who left her sport prematurely in 2009 at the ripe old age of 22 after a glittering career which included titles at Olympic, world, European and national levels.

At her very best. Manaudou sets World record 200 metres freestyle, Melbourne, 2007 (screenshot from WCSN, WCSN.com video)

But it was also one which included several disastrous personal and sporting decisions including a break with her long-time coach Philippe Lucas, a move to Italy to train with her then-boyfriend Luca Marin, a highly-publicised split with him a few months later and the appearance on the Internet of a compromising video of the couple.

Manaudou currently lives in the United States with her partner, French swimmer Frédérick Bousquet (who was in the news last week following the disclosure of his two-month suspension from competition after having inadvertently used a haemorrhoid cream containing the banned substance heptaminol) and their six-month-old daughter Manon.

Learning from Misstakes part one

Two glamorous French lasses have hit the headlines this past week here in France, and not always for the reasons they might have wished. Perhaps as the New Year beckons both will have used the holiday season to take stock and learn from their mistakes.

First up involves Franco-Italian relations yet again. No not the French president’s new belle or even Alitalia’s attempts to waltz up the aisle with Air France-KLM. Instead it’s the storm surrounding French swimming sensation Laure Manaudou’s messy split with her Latin poolside lover, Luca Marin.

The 21-year-old is a marvel in the pool and a national hero with three Olympic medals, including one gold, and world records in both the 400 and 200 metres freestyle.

Her style is breathtaking and a punishing training schedule under former trainer Philippe Lucas worked wonders as she regularly powered her way off the blocks, ratcheted up the gears and left her competitors in her wake wash.

The golden girl of French sport could do no wrong. She was quite simply feted throughout the country, signed a €1 million-a year modelling contract with Gucci-owning French billionaire, François Pinault, and appeared on the front cover of the weekly glossy Paris Match.

But then in May this year Manaudou proved that once out of the water, she tended to leave her brain in neutral.

She ditched Lucas – a Gallic version of the Incredible Hulk a l’orange – and hopped across the border to train with Marin’s team in Turin. The girl was in love and didn’t mind showing it.

But the course of true love proved to be far from smooth and much shorter than anticipated. In true soap-opera style, she soon broke ranks with the Italian team manager, fended of accusations of “not trying” during training sessions and as quickly as she had fallen in love with Marin, fell right back out again.

Back in France, and without a trainer or a team, Manaudou has turned to the “expertise” of her younger brother, Nicolas, to get her back on course for next year’s Olympics. But the story was far from over and indeed worse was yet to come.

During this month’s European short course championships in Hungary, as Manaudou hauled in another four medals, “private” pictures taken with a mobile ‘phone of the formerly clinching couple and several topless ones of Manaudou herself surfaced on the Internet.

She reportedly accused Marin of releasing the pictures, and even his fervent denials could not stop the fury of the French swimmer as she confronted him during the meeting and rather publicly chucked his ring in the pool.

Ho hum. Hopefully she will be a little more careful where she points that mobile ‘phone with the new love in her life, French backstroker Benjamin Stasiulis.

Happy New Year Laure