Manaudou withdraws from 200m at Olympics

World record holder Laure Manaudou will not compete in the 200 metres freestyle at the Beijing Olympics after pulling out of the event at her national championships.

The development came a day after Manaudou burst into tears following her first defeat at a major championships since June 2004 in the 400 metres freestyle.

Although she secured an Olympic berth, her time of 4:06.67 was far outside the world record of 4:02.13 she set on August 6, 2006 and held until last month when Federica Pellegrini, of Italy, clocked 4:01.53 at the European championships in Eindhoven.

Camelia Potec, of Romania, won the race, with Coralie Balmy, of France, second.

"It's tough, it's tough to be beaten," Manaudou told Eurosport. "All I can say is that I am waiting for Arena's new suit."

Manaudou is under contract with Arena, who are scheduled to make available their new suit by June while Tyr and Speedo have already done so.

Balmy wears the Speedo suit, which helped France's Alain Bernard set the 100 metres freestyle world record at the Europeans in Eindhoven last month.

Manaudou set her 200m freestyle world record when she swam the distance in one minute 55.52 seconds at last year's World Championships in Melbourne.

The 21-year-old, this time wearing a Tyr suit, was only fourth in yesterday's heats with a time of 2:00.08.

Manaudou became the first Frenchwoman to win an Olympic gold swimming medal when she won the 400 metres freestyle final in Athens in 2004. She also took silver in the 800 metres freestyle and bronze in the 100 metres backstroke.