martial arts and prevention against doping. Recognized on the international scene, he is one of the forty sporting personalities, members of the academy, of the Laureus World Awards' Sports since its founding in 1999. A popular sportsman Generous as a sportsman, David Douillet put his popularity at the service of charitable operations. Close to the Chirac couple, he became godfather of the charity operation "Operation Yellow Coins" with then First French lady Bernadette Chirac. Each year David "drives" an SNCF TGV La Poste to go and collect funds for his "operation pieces jaunes", and he is the main sponsor, via public appearances, for this operation. In 1996 he started the foundation of the hospitals of Paris to improve the daily life of hospitalized children and teenagers. In addition, after his second Olympic title, he was named a UNESCO ambassador for youth in 2001. His medals and his generosity are held in high regard amongst the French, who ranked him the second most popular personality in France. Sometimes invited onto television programs, the judoka has his puppet with the Les Guignols de l'info (News Puppets), a popular satirical broadcast on Canal+. Retirement Since the end of his sporting career, David Douillet has tried to manage his image as well as possible. This image was put to the test when the company Travelsport, a travel agency in which David Douillet was a shareholder, filed for bankruptcy in 1997. Victim of a swindle, David Douillet quickly put this embarrassing affair to rest by gaining his fourth world title a few weeks later. Thanks to his second Olympic title, the Frenchman was able to leverage his heightened popular image into lucrative business deals. After a short passage through the television production companies, David Douillet now lends his name to several brands (sporting material, working goods, camp-site or excursion equipment), as well as kimono under the signature DD (mark), and even recently to a judo simulation video game, David Douillet judo. On television, after a short passage on French television, he joined Canal+ where he is regularly present as a sporting consultant when international Judo events are broadcast. He also participates in the preparation of rebroadcasts of events like the Olympic Games, or the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on premium cable television. Moreover, he appears occasionally in commercials. While he is currently focusing on the business side of his career, he has not entirely