France have to pin their medal hopes on swimmers and fencers at the Beijing Olympics as they hope to at least match the seventh-place finish on 11 gold medals grabbed in the Athens Games four years ago.

The 1996 Games saw the European powerhouse reach their apex as France bagged 15 gold, seven silver and 15 bronze medals to finish fifth on the medal tally.

But in the next two Games, France seemed to run out of steam, slipping to sixth and seventh in 2000 and 2004 respectively.

French Secretary of State for Sports, Bernard Laporte, said early this month that the team targets at 40 medals in Beijing. The French won 33 in Athens.

Things seem to go with the plan as the French athletes had notched up 217 Olympic slots as of July 1, with more tickets to be confirmed in the remaining days.

The final entrants are expected to hit 300, according to the French Olympic Committee.

The National Aquatic Center, or Water Cube, is likely to become a bonanza for France as the country boasts a contingent of swimmers able to make some splashes. A total of 33 swimmers have qualified for the Olympics, the most entries they won in any Olympic Games or world championships.

The Greek capital saw the arrival on the scene of the multi-talented 17-year-old Laure Manoudou, who captured gold in the 400 meters freestyle, silver in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 100m backstroke.

Since then she has developed into one of the most dominant female swimmers in the world.

In men's part, Alain Bernard has emerged as a potential star of the Games having broken both the world 50m and 100m freestyle records at the European Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in March.

Bernard will spearhead a French 4x100m freestyle relay team that has real hopes of upsetting Americans and Australians and the French have two or three other swimmers who have high hopes of making the podium.

In fencing, Laura Flessel-Colovic will be the flag-bearer for the French and will be looking to retire from the national team with a third gold medal in the epee.

It might be tough for cycling to fuel the medal drive as Britain has emerged as the new powerhouse on the track dominating the recent world championships in Manchester.

The country can hardly count on athletics in the Olympics, especially after the French suffered an embarrassing moment of coming home empty-handed from last year's world championships in Osaka, Japan.

The 110m hurdler Ladji Doucoure, the 2005 world champion, might be the only one to carry the hopes on track and he will pose a challenge to China's defending champion Liu Xiang. In tennis court, former French Open winner Mary Pierce, Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils are expected to catch limelight.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2007)