French fail to match British Olympic glory

If there was a post-Olympics medal for bare-faced effrontery, Nicolas Sarkozy would win hands down. In his capacity as holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, he has decreed that the 87 golds won by EU states in Beijing should be lumped together to leap-frog Europe over China and the US to the head of the medals table.

"It's a victory for sport and for the fundamental and common values of the peoples of the union," Sarkozy declared on Sunday, with trademark braggadocio. Sub-text: we might be minnows on the world's diplomatic and military stage, yet, mon Dieu, we can hold our own when it comes to sport.

But while Sarko burbled on about "hoisting the colours of Europe high," those responsible for administering French sport were glumly contemplating the nation's measly haul of just seven golds against the 19 bagged by Team GB - which, M le President would have needed no reminding, was drawn from a somewhat smaller population.

After all the talk before Beijing about small towns throughout France boasting Olympic-size swimming pools, first-rate athletics tracks and state-of-the art velodromes, the French squad did not exactly cover themselves in glory.  (No news yet of a victory parade along the Champs Elysees).

The failure of the French to land any gold medals in judo - their great hope, the Guadeloupe-born Teddy Riner (left), managed only a bronze - while their German neighbours managed a rare win and the Dutch collected a silver and four bronzes, merely compounded the Gallic misery.

Judo, by some accounts, is actually bigger in France than it is in Japan. Like a lot of other sports in France, its status in the community dates back to the German Occupation during World War 2, when the Vichy government decided that centrally controlled sports would help suppress French frustration and keep anarchy at bay. ·