Chirac left eating his words after gastronomic gaffe costs French

French president Jacques Chirac was forced to eat his words after the International Olympic Committee decided to vote for London to host the 2012 Games.

Chirac, who had made a disparaging remark about British cuisine: 'You can't trust people who have such lousy cooking - after Finland, that's the country where you eat the worst,' must have suffered a bad bout of indigestion when he heard the news that London had defeated Paris 54-50 for the hosting rights.

The joke, if it was one, was not meant to be heard. But a French journalist had overheard Chirac's comment to Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and this tasty morsel was splashed all over the French media the following day.

This nugget could have cost Paris the 2012 Olympics. For one thing Finland had two voting members on the IOC, Peter Tallberg and Jari Kurri, who would have been less than impressed that their country's gastronomic delights had been belittled.

Chirac's biting comments could also have affronted other countries who have a natural affinity towards Britain. In the aftermath of defeat, Paris bid delegation member and French NBA star Tony Parker alluded to as much when he said: 'It proves that the committee is Anglo-Saxon. They prefer the English.'

Parker cannot be all that far off the mark with his barb about Anglo-Saxon connections. It was plainly evident that all those votes which went for New York, swung the way of London, after the Big Apple was eliminated in the second round.

At that stage, Madrid was leading with 32 votes, followed by London (27) and Paris (25). New York received 16 votes and was knocked out. A dozen of these votes ended in the London camp when the third round of voting was done, giving London a decisive lead over Paris, 39 to 33. The Anglo-Saxon connection had added flavour to London's bid.