I may quit says France's Manaudou

By Julien Pretot

BEIJING (Reuters) - France's Laure Manaudou left the Water Cube after finishing seventh in the women's 100 meters backstroke final with her head covered in a towel, fighting back tears and suggesting it may be her last Beijing appearance.

"I'm even wondering if it means something to continue," she said on Tuesday while in tears. "I don't know, I don't even have the desire to swim.

"It's hard to race and finish seventh or eighth."

Manaudou is scheduled to race in the 200 meters backstroke and 4x100 medley relay, but the poor finish on Tuesday, a day after she surrendered her 400m freestyle title to Britain's Rebecca Adlington, has capped a miserable 15 months for the former darling of French swimming.

Feted as a 17-year-old in Athens when she became France's first Olympics swimming gold medalist since Jean Boiteux's gold medal in the 400 meters freestyle in 1952, her personal life has slowly unraveled since May 2007.

She has changed her coach three times, moved from France to Italy to pursue a romantic relationship with fellow swimmer Luca Marin, whom she broke up with months later, and was sacked by her Italian club LaPresse Nuoto reputedly for bad behavior.

Naked photos of her then appeared on the Internet and it was not long after her performances began to slip.

To make matters worse, her grasp on the world 400 freestyle record ended when Italian Federica Pellegrini, who is now involved in a relationship with Marin, set a new mark in March this year.

Pellegrini also broke Manaudou's 200 freestyle world record in the Olympic heats at Beijing on Monday.

The French woman did not enter the 200 in Beijing after she pulled out of the event at the French championships in April. Her withdrawal came a day after she had burst into tears following her first competitive defeat in the 400.

Despite her comments about quitting, her coach Lionel Horter, who replaced her elder brother Nicolas, was confident she would appear for the 200 backstroke heats on Thursday.

"I think she will be at the start of the 200 meters backstroke," said Horter, who plans to spur Manaudou's pride.

"I will tickle the pride of the champion that is inside her.

"Let's hope for a good surprise, she made a lot of sacrifices to come to these Games, we have to go all the way.

"We'll see after all the races. The problem is in her head.