PARIS � Former World and Olympic swimming champion Laure Manaudou is retiring.
�I quit. This hasn�t been an easy decision to take,� the 22-year-old Frenchwoman told Friday�s edition of Le Parisien newspaper. �It came to me little by little. I didn�t make it on impulse. It has matured slowly.�

At the Beijing Olympics last year, Manaudou finished last in the final of the 400-meters freestyle, seventh in the 100 meters freestyle and was eliminated in the heats for the 200-meters backstroke.
She won Olympic gold in 2004. Her victory in the 400-meters freestyle gave France its first swimming gold in 52 years.