THE European Union was the true champion of the Olympic Games, not the USA or China, senior EU officials said yesterday, citing the total haul of more than 280 medals won by the 25 member states.

Although EU countries compete as individual nations, its bureaucrats enraged eurosceptics by claiming that the superior number of collective gold medals made the EU the strongest sporting power in the world.

The US topped the official medal table with 35 gold medals and China came second with 32. The EU countries won 82 golds, including 14 for Germany, 11 for France and 9 for Great Britain.

Romano Prodi, the outgoing president of the European Commission, said he hoped that the EU flag would make its debut at the Beijing Games in 2008. Reijo Kemppinen, an EU spokesman, said: “With 82 gold medals and altogether 286 medals, the EU swept the floor.”