With the English capital reportedly just behind Paris in the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games, French President Jacques Chirac's derogatory remarks about British cuisine were rather ill-timed.Chirac has become an obnoxious caricature of himself. Why did he irk the Finnish members of the Olympic committee with such crass remarks?Just 24 hours before today's 117th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session, French newspaper Liberation quoted Chirac as saying, "One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad. The only thing they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease."
"After Finland, it is the country with the worst food," added Chirac, who arrived here Tuesday.
That's something that I will say when I'm drunk, but not something that a European President should say in a fancy banquet surrounded by world leaders.
French basketball star Tony Parker of France:
``I don't know what else we could have done. If we don't have it now, I guess we will never get it.Former Olympic judo gold medalist Thierry Rey:``The IOC seems to be very pro-Anglo-Saxon. I feel extremely gutted.''
``This is an enormous disappointment, we don't understand what is happening, this is a massive slap in the face''Stephane Diagana, former European champion at 400metre hurdles:
``This is a huge disappointment, we really thought it was a good sign to face London in the final because the votes that had gone to New York were smaller than those who went to Madrid.``But we thought wrongly."