Paris

When the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2012 Olym­pics to London rather than Paris in 2005, pundits speculated about the geopolitical forces behind the deci­sion. But a simpler factor may have been at play: Jacques Chirac talked smack about British snacks.

In the week before the final vote, a French journalist overheard Chirac joking about the quality of his com­petitor's food. “One simply cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad,” he said. “The only thing [the British] have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease.” On a role, Chirac decided to bring another European country into the mix. “After Finland,” he sneered, “[Britain] is the country with the worst food.” The comments seemed unwise since Finland held two votes on the Committee.

In keeping with the Olympic spirit of international understanding, the ultimately victorious Tony Blair declined to respond to his opponent in kind. But several of his compatri­ots threw back some rotten toma­toes of their own. “Don't talk crepe, Jacques!” screamed The Sun, Brit­ain's most popular tabloid. A famous Scottish butcher sneered: “They think that snails and frog’s’ legs are a delicacy.” Food critic Egon Ronay called Chirac “a man full of bile…not fit to pronounce on food.”

In the wake of France’s Olympic let-down, a bitter Chirac can at least console himself by thinking of the food that will be served to 2012 Olympians: let them eat crap.