How France Aims To Rock With POP
07-jul-2006 Craig Lord
As we enter a fabulous weekend for French sport, with the national soccer team and Amelie Mauresmo battling for two of the biggest prizes in world sport, news emerges from Gaul of government plans to reign more supreme than ever in the Olympic arena.
A year after Gallic pride was momentarily crushed by London's victory in the race to become host to the 2012 Olympic Games, French minds have turned to gold and espionage, according to reporters in Paris.
France's brief: 40 medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, followed by 50 in the fields, on the tracks and in the pools of England four years later.
France won 37 medals for fifth nation in Atlanta in 1996, 38 for sixth place in Sydney 2000 and fell back to 33 medals and seventh in Athens, 2004, when Laure Manaudou's 400m freestyle victory gave her team its second-ever Olympic swimming gold - and their first for 52 years.
Now the French sports ministry has set up a special intelligence unit, the Paralympic and Olympic Preparation, otherwise known as POP. Top of POP is Fabien Canu, 45, former world judo champion and national technical director.
He said: "We are among the seven best in the world. We should be in the top five. A top-level athlete represents eight to 10 years of training." So, best start to look at 2016 now.
Attached to the National Institute of Sport and Physical Education, POP has been charged with lifting standards across various disciplines and bringing through national technical directors.
Another key activity is "sports intelligence", keeping track of new developments in sports organisation, training and health, and acting as a bridge between coaches and researchers.
"Sports espionage is the reality these days," Canu said. "There is a lot of potential. French sport is rich but the knowledge has to be collected and shared." But not all of it with everyone, we assume.
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