FRANCE’S REVERED SPORTS daily L’Equipe produced a special Olympics edition today which it claimed was the biggest newspaper in the world.
In two sections measuring 32 inches side to side and 22 inches up and down, the paper said that although reading it would no doubt pose problems for commuters in busy trains and buses, the “collectors edition” was a fitting way to mark tomorrow’s opening of the London Olympics.
The front page of the broadsheet paper’s first section carries a huge picture of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt with his arms held aloft in victory super-imposed onto a snap of London’s Tower Bridge. Section two has a cartoon of the Olympic rings with a hand stretching out to grab them.
“Twice the size of its usual edition, L’Equipe today sets a new record for a sports daily in tribute to the giants (of sport). Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who is aiming to win a fourth gold medal at the Olympics, is among them.
Among the offerings inside are a 6 feet eight inches life-size picture of popular French judo star Teddy Riner and a listing of all the French Olympic medal winners since the modern games started in Athens in 1896.
