I was watching NBC’s live coverage of the second semifinal in the men’s 50-meter freestyle at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics on Thursday when French swimmer Florent Manaudou stepped out for the introductions to a roar from the hometown crowd.
He was dressed in those cool white puffer-like swim robes and then proceeded to slowly remove the robe, much to my delight and that of NBC swimming announcers Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines and gay men (and many straight women) everywhere. This is what soon appeared on my TV:
Je suis amoureux
Get off the sidelines and into the game
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I wasn’t the only one enamored. Here is what NBC’s announcers had to say:
Hicks: “I like to call this a big boy race. Flo is 6-feet-6, 220 pounds and he likes to flaunt it a little bit.”
Gaines: “Wow. My team is the Tampa Bay Bucs and they might want to give this guy a ring.”
A minute later, when they showed Manaudou on the starting blocks, Hicks said, “There’s the showman.” “Whoa,” was all Gaines had to add.
Whoa indeed. And Hicks and Gaines weren’t the only going gaga over the French body beautiful. Here is what Google trends showed at the exact moment Manaudou took off his swim robe:
Manaudou, 33, has won one Olympic gold, three silvers and a slew of international titles. This is his final Olympics and he wants to go out in style, telling Le Monde: “I want [Paris 2024 Olympic Games] to be a grand finale and to be able to enjoy it with the French public. In swimming, we haven’t been lucky enough to have any major World or European Championships in France, so this will be the first, and last, time for me, I think. I’m really looking forward to it.”
He is also a self-aware athlete who relayed this anecdote from the 2012 London Games, when he won the gold medal in the 50 meters.
“Just as he was about to go to the call room ahead of the 50m freestyle final at the London 2012 Olympic Games, his coaches (Romain Barnier and James Gibson) told him ‘remember to smile.’ Confused at the time, he thinks it is the best advice he could have received. Of the eight finalists walking out for the final, Manaudou was the only one relaxed and smiling. At the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games final in 2021, he was again relaxed and smiling and knowing he was the only man in the line-up to win a 50m freestyle Olympic medal previously gave him confidence. “I didn’t understand at the time, but now, I understand why they told me that.”
He also knows what he’s got, which is why his Instagram account is filled with:
Him working out.
Taking a selfie with a family member.
Hanging left in a blue swim brief.
Manaudou made the finals, which will be held Friday, live on NBC. Set your DVR, I know I will.
