France's Laure Manaudou grabs Olympic berth in 100m backstroke

DUNKIRK, France (AP) -- Former Olympic champion Laure Manaudou qualified for the London Games on Tuesday after winning the 100-meter backstroke at the French swimming championships.

Manaudou, who came out of retirement last year, clocked 1 minute, 0.16 seconds to finish comfortably within the minimum time required for Olympic qualification.

Manaudou retired in September 2009 following her poor showing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She finished last in the final of the 400 freestyle, seventh in the 100 freestyle and was eliminated in the heats for the 200 backstroke.

Her gold in the 400 free at the 2004 Athens Olympics gave France its first swimming gold in 52 years.