Judo supremo Douillet is new minister of sport

Popular French sport’s personality David Douillet is to replace Chantal Jouanno as minister of sport. Douillet, aged-42, was an Olympic judo gold medalist in the Atlanta Games in 1996 and four years later in Sydney.

He moved over to politics in 2000 after his sporting career came to an end and was elected deputy to the French National Assembly on 18 October 2009 for the ruling UMP Party of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

On 29 June, he was appointed junior minister for French ex-patriates.

He was also heavily involved a charity with Bernadette Chirac, the wife of former president Jacques Chirac, which raises money for children’s hospitals.

His new position comes after the Senate swung to the left for the first time in its history.