Inside Lines: Lamour's Gallic thrust a wound to Caborn

Dateline: Paris

While the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, was lending patriotic support to Britain's already faltering athletes here this weekend, his opposite number was enjoying watching his city edge further ahead in the bid to stage the 2012 Olympics. There could not be a greater contrast between bluff Yorkshireman Caborn and the suave Jean-François Lamour, a former Olympic fencing champion. In his mid-30s, there is still a touch of the D'Artagnan about him, whereas Caborn is very much a broadsword man, who prefers a spot of committee-room ear-bashing to the subtler thrust and parrying around the corridors of power. There is little doubt that Lamour will have the higher profile as the bids progress. The French have a history of converting former sports stars into eminent political figures: Olympic silver-medal hurdler Guy Drut was one of Lamour's predecessors, and he is still an MP as well as a French representative on the International Olympic Committee. Yesterday Lamour surveyed proceedings with a glance towards Caborn which suggested "Can you follow that?" Caborn might have been tempted to respond "Oui, Minister" after a rather tatty opening ceremony, inadequate media arrangements and the booing of prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who is no more popular here than Tony Blair is back home. Yet Lamour is somewhat sniffy about London's bid. "You have no infrastructure," he tells us. "Here we have so many facilities, and the Stade de France is a model of success and know-how. What puzzles me about London is that you are building what is claimed to be the best stadium in the world at Wembley, yet it would have only a minor role in the Olympics. Pourquoi?" Lamour the merrier, evidently.

Bubka training his sights on new heights

The influence of ex-Soviet bloc-busters on international sport is growing. Roman Abramovich's billions make him the Premiership's major powerbroker, and before the decade is out another of his generation could be running world sport. The Ukrainian former pole-vault tsar Sergey Bubka, re-elected to the IAAF Council with more votes than any other candidate, is in a strong position to succeed the ageing president, Lamine Diack - but it may be that the IOC, where he is chair of the Athletes Commission, will beckon first. And he is still only 36. The hands which gripped the vaulting pole with such dexterity are now firmly guiding him towards the most powerful seat in sport. The Monaco-based Bubka is a multilinguist and astute politician. When he was elected to the IOC Executive, the president, Jacques Rogge, smilingly told him: "One day you could be taking over my place". But Bubka has even higher aspirations - friends say he wants to become president of Ukraine.

Norman's return is no help to London

Sebastian Coe had a controversial "campaign manager" in his own successful bid for election to the IAAF Council here last week. The exiled Andy Norman, once the "Mr Big" of British athletics, returned from South Africa, where he now lives with his wife, Fatima Whitbread, and their five-year-old son, to use his still considerable influence with the moguls of world athletics on behalf of friend Coe and five other Britons who won places on various commissions. Although he left Britain under a cloud, Norman, who is now 60, remains a major player in the sport globally, and would be a huge help to London's Olympic bid - not that he is likely to be asked because of the messy circumstances of his departure. In any case, he gives London little chance - his pick is Paris.

Jonathan Edwards has admitted he can no longer hack it athletically at 37, and for another veteran record-breaking Olympian Paris also signals a World Championships adieu.

But unlike Edwards, 43-year-old Merlene Ottey plans to keep on running towards Athens where, as here, she will be representing her new homeland of Slovenia. Ottey switched nationalities after falling out with Jamaica's athletics authorities following a selection dispute in Sydney. The redoubtable track queen, who competes in the 100m today, has amassed 28 world and Olympic medals - more than any other woman. She escaped a drugs ban when she blamed a positive steroid test on a medical condition. British shot-putter Carl Myerscough, who bombed out yesterday, was not so lucky, but he has been thrown a lifeline by the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, who has warned the BOA - and other national bodies - that they are "exposing themselves to dangerous litigation" by imposing lifetime Olympic bans.

Iraq's Olympic footballers, whose tribulations we reported recently, won the international friendship tournament in Saudi Arabia, defeating Morocco 1-0 in the final.

A remarkable renaissance considering they have no money, no stadium and suffered the brutalities of Saddam Hussein's son Uday. It bodes well for their progress towards next year's Olympics, which begins with a qualifying match against Vietnam in Damascus. But will there be other Iraqis in Athens? Both the IOC and the IAAF are sending missions to Baghdad to "identify possible athletes and sports leaders", who will be offered overseas training. Let's hope they will be more perspicacious than previous investigators, who failed to suss out the treatment of Iraqi sportsmen.

insidelines@independent.co.uk

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