France picks outspoken China critic as flag bearer at Olympic opening ceremony

PARIS (AP) -France chose Tony Estanguet as its flag bearer Tuesday for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games, just weeks after the two-time Olympic canoeing champion criticized China for its human rights record.

Estanguet will lead the delegation of some 310 French athletes into Beijing's National Stadium on Aug. 8, the head of France's Olympic Committee, Henri Serandour, said.

At a news conference earlier this month, Estanguet told reporters "the situation in China is certainly intolerable,'' adding it was "unbearable for us sports people.''

He was among the most outspoken of French athletes lobbying for permission to wear a badge marked "For a better world'' at the Olympics to show support for human rights following China's crackdown last month against protesters in Tibet.

Serandour initially nixed the plan but later said discussions were under way with the International Olympic Committee to give athletes worldwide permission to wear an international badge.

The IOC athletes' commission rejected the proposal last week as a political gesture. Another French athlete, two-time Olympic judo gold medalist David Douillet, said Tuesday the idea of an international badge was still under negotiation with the IOC.

France has worked to improve strained relations with China in past weeks, since the start of anti-French demonstrations in front of outlets of French retail giant Carrefour in China.

Anti-France sentiment has swept China since the raucous protests during the torch relay through Paris April 7. Chinese nationalists saw the disruption as an insult to their national pride.

Estanguet, who won gold medals in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004, is aiming to bidding to become the first French athlete to win individual gold medals at three straight Olympics.