Florent Manaudou, who aims to win back Olympic gold in the 50m in two months at the Tokyo Games (July 23 - August 8), only took 5th place in the distance at the European Championships, in 21 ′ ' 81, in Budapest this Sunday.
The 30-year-old Marseillais, 2012 Olympic champion and 2016 Olympic vice-champion of the one-way trip, lived in the Hungarian capital his first international long-course championship since his return to swimming in the spring of 2019, after two and a half years of break .
It was the Finn Liukkonen who won, in 21′'61, ahead of the Briton Proud (21′'69) and Golomeev (21′'73).
Maxime Grousset, the other French swimmer entered in the 50m final, placed 7th, in 22′'02.
Euro: disappointment for Florent Manaudou, only 5th in the 50m https://t.co/8yrNblWmJs
- CNEWS Sport (@CNEWS_Sport) May 23, 2021
On Saturday, Manaudou had swam the second time in the heats (21′'86) and the semi-finals (21′'67), this last time being his best of the season.
For the Marseille sprinter, the European meeting was the first in a series of four competitions that he will do in a month before the Olympics.
The meetings in Monaco (May 29 and 30), Canet-en-Roussillon (June 1 and 2) and the French Championships in Chartres (June 15 - 20) will follow.
"It still revolves around the 21''7 but it is below, rejoiced Manaudou after the semi-final on Saturday.
It's better than in Marseille (21''72 at the end of March), yet I'm in less good shape and unshaven.
It's nice when I look at the time, especially since I have a little control over the end.
I'm happy to be able to manage things during my race, it's been a while since this happened to me. ”
On Saturday, Manaudou had already put into perspective the importance of the final result in Budapest.
“I'm happy to do this in the semi-finals of the European Championships, even if it's still a training competition for the Olympics.
It's cool to be able to swim fast with the competition nearby ”while adding that he was aiming“ about a tenth better ”in the final.
For her part, sprinter Mélanie Hénie won the silver medal in the 50m butterfly, a non-Olympic race, behind the Dutch Kromowidjojo. Henique, 28, completed her one-way ticket in 25''46. For the French team, this is the fifth medal in the Hungarian competition, after gold in the 100m butterfly and silver in the 100m by Marie Wattel, the bronze in the 100m backstroke by Yohann Ndoye Brouard and the bronze. also obtained by the women's 4x100 m.
