One of the prominent female swimmers of the first decade of the 21st century, Laure Manaudou excelled in the long distance freestyle events, as well as the backstroke. Her first major international event were the European Championships, during which she claimed three golds freestyle, backstroke, medley relay. At the Athens Olympics later that year, Manaudou became the first Frenchwoman to win an Olympic swimming title, claiming the freestyle gold. She added a silver in the free, and a bronze in the back. In the next few years, she collected a large batch of medals, including three golds at the World Championships as well as two silvers and a bronze , an additional six European titles and eight European short course titles. In , she was proclaimed World Swimmer of the Year.