President of France to. He was succeeded by Nicolas Sarkozy on 16 May 2007. Following a further change, the constitutional law on the modernisation of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, 2008, a President cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac are the only Presidents to date who have served a full two terms (14 years for the former, 12 years for the latter). In order to be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations (informally known as "parrainages", for "sponsors") from more than 500 elected officials, mostly mayors. These officials must be from
France at the 2008 Summer Olympics France at the 2008 Summer Olympics France sent a team of 323 athletes to the 2008 Summer Olympics. France will send archers to the Olympics for the twelfth time. France qualified a full team of three women by placing eighth in the women's team event at the 2007 World Outdoor Target Championships. The nation had no men qualify at the world tournament, but Romain Girouelle earned the nation one spot in the men's individual competition at the European qualifying tournament. The French athletics team, composed of 52 athletes, including 18 relay competitors, for 2008 Summer Olympics was announced on the