Expected this Saturday at the French Swimming Championships in Limoges, where his duel with the young Maxime Grousset, 22, was to be the poster for the day, Florent Manaudou announced on Friday that he was withdrawing from the series and the final of the 50 free due to knee pain.
In question, an average physical form due to an inflammation of the left knee, which occurred after swimming the 50 m breaststroke on Thursday.
“I don't like swimming at all when I'm not at 100%,” he said.
“I'm a bit like a racing car.
I can go very fast when everything is going well, but as soon as there is something wrong, it has a huge impact on my performance, continued the 2012 Olympic champion. I would not have been able to be 100% and I wouldn't have had a good day.
So I prefer to forfeit.
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A boulevard for Grousset
In the absence of Manaudou, Grousset therefore appears more than ever as the favorite for the final scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
"I think he's maybe a little sad not to have me next to him because we're a good duo, we race each other all year round," conceded Manaudou.
So it's true that it's a shame not to be able to do this 50 set, but there will be others.
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In addition to the opposition with Maxime Grousset, the challenge of the final was also the qualification for the World and European Championships this summer.
Except surprise, Manaudou should still ensure his participation in the two international meetings thanks to his time achieved last summer in the final of the Tokyo Olympics, where he took the silver medal (21 sec 55/100e) .
This week he has already validated his qualification in the 50m butterfly.
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