French Olympic champion Florent Manaudou announces retirement from swimming at 35

Retirement announcement

French swimmer Florent Manaudou announced the end of his competitive career on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at age 35, during a live broadcast on France Télévisions. The disclosure came discreetly, delivered as a passing remark while Manaudou was serving as a guest commentator at the European Swimming Championships alongside presenter Alexandre Boyon and former swimmer Camille Lacourt. Two years after what articles describe as the last great chapter of his career at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the sprint specialist in the 50m freestyle had not competed in any event since those Games.

Two years after the Olympic Games, that's it, I am announcing the end. It will be Saturday, at 6 pm. For those coming to the pool, I invite you to come half an hour earlier.

European Championships context

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the European Swimming Championships, which are being held from August 10 to 16 at the Centre aquatique olympique (CAO) in Saint-Denis, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department. The competition features long-course events in a 50m pool and runs through the weekend. Manaudou had been invited to commentate several races during the Thursday session when he made his disclosure live on air, two days before the planned farewell ceremony. The championships serve as the setting for both his announcement and his official send-off.

Olympic record

Manaudou's Olympic career spans four consecutive Games and six medals, establishing him as one of the most accomplished French swimmers of the 21st century. Four of his six Olympic medals came individually in the 50m freestyle, the event in which he specialized throughout his career. He won gold in the 50m freestyle at the London 2012 Olympics, followed by silver at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and silver again at Tokyo in 2021. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, competing on home soil, he earned two bronze medals: one in the 50m freestyle and another in the 4x100m medley relay. Those two bronzes added to the four medals he had previously collected across London, Rio, and Tokyo, bringing his career total to six.

World championship titles

Beyond the Olympics, Manaudou is a four-time world champion. Three of those titles were secured at a single edition, the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, where he won the 50m freestyle, the 50m butterfly, and the 4x100m freestyle relay. The source articles do not specify when or where he claimed his fourth world championship title.

Farewell ceremony

A farewell tribute, described as a jubilé, is scheduled for Saturday, August 15 at 18h at the CAO in Saint-Denis, in the margins of the European Championships. Manaudou invited spectators planning to attend to arrive half an hour before the ceremony begins, suggesting that a formal send-off will be organized on the sidelines of the competition. The public at the aquatic centre will pay him a final homage as the competition enters its closing weekend, with the European Championships concluding on Sunday, August 16.