“For me, it's like rape”: insults, harassment… Laure Manaudou talks about the distribution of her intimate photos on the internet

Un documentaire consacré à Laure Manaudou sortira ce dimanche sur Canal +. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP

In a few days, a documentary about Laure Manaudou will be released. The famous French swimmer returned to the diffusion of intimate photos, which earned her a wave of hatred for many years.

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, France discovered swimmer Laure Manaudou, then aged 17. She won three Olympic medals (gold in the 400m freestyle, silver in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 100m backstroke). But a few months later, when she was world famous, intimate photos of them were revealed.

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“I think it lasted a good 15 years”

On the occasion of the release of the documentary looking back at her career, Laure Manaudou went to the set of the show Clique and answered questions from Mouloud Achour. With the journalist, she discusses the affair of the photos posted on the internet. The Olympic champion reports the devastating effect and how it affected her life.

“I knew that at some point these photos were going to come out. It's complicated to live with because for me it's like rape. Today, it's trivialized because it happens a lot, but at that time, in fact, I was one of the first I think.”

The consequences can be enormous, as Laure Manaudou mentions. “If it can be useful to someone, so much the better. Today I use it for prevention, especially with my daughter who is going to be 15. We don't see everything that goes on in people's heads and especially how it can affect a person”, she says on the set of the show Canal +.

“Now it has stopped but for many years I received messages with a lot of insults and who sent me the photos. So inevitably, it plunged me back into it. I think it lasted a good 15 years”, she laments.

The photos were intended for her former partner, Pierre Henri, who asked her to pose. It was the latter who put the photos online and a wave of insults and harassment followed for many years.

“An intimate and unpublished testimony”

The documentary about the French swimmer will be broadcast this Sunday, January 19 at 9 p.m. on Canal +.

“August 15, 2004. Twenty years before the exploits of Léon Marchand, the French fell in love with a swimming prodigy, gold medalist at the Athens Olympic Games. Laure Manaudou was only 17 years old at the time and seemed destined for the brightest sporting future. But nothing would go as planned. Twenty years later, Laure confronts her own story and delivers an intimate and unprecedented testimony”, notes the television channel's website.