France at the Olympics

The modern Olympic Games were founded by French historian Pierre de Coubertin. France has competed in every edition, with the possible exception of the 1904 Games.
Through the Paris 2024 Games, French athletes had won 815 medals at the Summer Olympic Games in a wide variety of sports, achieving particular success in fencing, cycling and judo. France has won an additional 138 medals at the Winter Olympic Games, notably in alpine skiing and biathlon.
Several French athletes have left a significant mark on Olympic history. Biathlete Martin Fourcade holds the national record for Olympic titles with six gold medals, while judoka Teddy Riner follows with five gold medals in the Summer Games. The joint record for the most total Olympic medals by a French athlete is held by fencers Philippe Cattiau and Roger Ducret, each with eight medals earned during the 1920s and 1930s. Fourcade and Riner follow closely with seven medals each, and are trailed by fellow fencing legends Lucien Gaudin, Christian d'Oriola, and Philippe Riboud, who each amassed six medals over their Olympic careers.

Hosted Games

In June 1894, during the first Olympic Congress in Paris, on the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin, it was decided to resume the Olympic Games and to found the IOC. In 1900, Paris hosted the second modern Summer Olympic Games, which took place as part of the World Exhibition. The Olympics were held there in Paris a second time in 1924 and a third time in 2024. This makes Paris, together with London, the current record city host, to which Los Angeles will also be added with its third hosting of the Summer Olympics in 2028. In total, France has hosted the Olympic games on six occasions and is scheduled to host a seventh with the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.

Games	Host city	Dates	Nations	Participants	Events
1900 Summer Olympics	Paris	14 May – 28 October	24	997	95
1924 Winter Olympics	Chamonix	25 January – 4 February	16	258	16
1924 Summer Olympics	Paris	5 – 27 July	44	3,089	126
1968 Winter Olympics	Grenoble	6 – 18 February	37	1,158	35
1992 Winter Olympics	Albertville	4 – 23 February	64	1,801	57
2024 Summer Olympics	Paris	26 July – 11 August	206	10,714	329
2030 Winter Olympics	French Alps	1 – 17 February	TBC	TBC	TBC

Overview of Olympic participation

Medals by summer sport

Medals by winter sport

Best results in non-medaling sports:

Summary by sport

Aquatics

Artistic Swimming

France's only artistic swimming medal came in the [Synchronized swimming at the Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Summer Olympics – Women's duet|Women's duet at the 2000 Summer Olympics].

Games	Swimmers	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2000 Sydney	9	2/2	0	0	1	1
Total			0	0	1	1

Diving

France's only diving medal came in the women's three-metre springboard in 1952.

Swimming

France first competed in swimming at the Paris 1900 Games, with 47 swimmers, taking five medals, including one Gold.

Games	Swimmers	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900	47	7/7	1	2	2	5
1932	5	5/11	0	1	0	1
1948	17	11/11	0	0	2	2
1952	16	11/11	1	1	1	3
1964	16	8/18	0	1	0	1
1968	16	?/29	0	0	1	1
[Swimming at the Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics\|1984 Summer Olympics\|1984]	16	15/29	0	1	1	2
1988	25	29/31	0	0	2	2
1992	25	25/31	0	0	3	3
2000	19	22/32	0	1	0	1
2004	21	23/32	1	2	3	6
[Swimming at the Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics\|2008 Summer Olympics\|2008]	35	27/34	1	2	3	6
[Swimming at the Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics\|2012 Summer Olympics\|2012]	31	24/34	4	2	1	7
[Swimming at the Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics\|2016 Summer Olympics\|2016]	30	24/34	0	2	1	3
[Swimming at the Sailing at the 2020 Summer Olympics\|2020 Summer Olympics\|2020]	28	28/37	0	1	0	1
2024	33	30/37	4	1	2	7
Total			12	17	22	51

Water Polo

France was a winner of [Water polo at the Sailing at the 1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Summer Olympics|1924 tournament], and have twice more finished third.

Archery

France competed in archery in its first Olympic appearance in Paris 1900. The French team there took 13 of the 20 medals, including gold in 4 of the 7 events.

Athletics

France first competed in athletics at the inaugural 1896 Games, winning a silver and a bronze. The nation's first gold medal in the sport is a disputed one; Michel Théato was Luxembourgish but living in Paris; his win in the 1900 marathon is credited to France by the International Olympic Committee, which rejected a petition by Luxembourg to change the Olympic record of Théato's nationality.

Games	Athletes	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1896	5	9/12	0	1	1	2	-
1900	23	18/23	1	4	2	7	-
1976		37	1	0	0	1	11
1980	25	28	0	0	1	1	16
1984	21	41	1	1	2	4	9
1988	55	42	0	0	1	1	18
1992	57	43	1	0	0	1	13
[Athletics at the Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics\|1996 Summer Olympics\|1996]	49	44	3	0	1	4	4
2000	53	46	0	0	0	0	-
2004	61	46	0	0	2	2	33
2008	52	57	0	1	2	3	27
2012	52	47	1	1	1	3	12
2016	54	47	0	3	3	6	21
2020	61	48	0	1	0	1	31
2024	90	48	0	1	0	1	31
Total			14	27	29	70	16

Basque pelota

In the only appearance of basque pelota as a medal sport at the Olympics in 1900, the French team withdrew shortly before the competition started, and the match was not played. The Spanish pair is credited with the gold medal.

Games	Players	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	2	1/1	0	0	0	0
Total			0	0	0	0

Cricket

France is one of two nations to have competed in the only Olympic cricket competition, in 1900. The French team lost to a British team, taking second place.

Games	Players	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	12	1/1	0	1	0	1
Total			0	1	0	1

Croquet

France was the only nation to compete in the only Olympic croquet competitions, in 1900.

Games	Players	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	10	3/3	3	2	2	7
Total			3	2	2	7

Cycling

France first competed in cycling in 1896, winning four of the six cycling events—all of the events which France contested. France has won more gold medals and total medals in the sport than any other nation.

Games	Cyclists	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1896 Athens	2	4/6	4	1	1	6	-
2004	22	18	1	1	1	3	6
2008	28	18	2	3	1	6	2
2012	23	18	1	3	0	4	3
2016	21	18	0	0	1	1	18
2020	30	22	0	0	2	2	21
2024	31	22	3	3	3	9	1
Total			41	27	23	91	-

Equestrian

France has won the third-most gold medals and fourth-most total medals in equestrian sports. The nation hosted the first equestrian events in Paris 1900, winning gold medals in two of the five events.

Fencing

France has won the second-most gold medals and second-most total medals in fencing, in each case behind Italy.

Football

France competed in the first men's Olympic football "tournament", winning one match and losing another to earn a second place finish currently recognized as a silver medal performance. The nation was a frequent competitor from then through 1996, peaking with a gold medal win in 1984. France did not qualify for the men's tournament from 2000 to 2016, but has qualified for the 2020 Games.
France did not qualify for the first four women's tournaments from 1996 to 2008. The French women debuted in 2012, placing 4th, and followed that with a 5th-place finish in 2016.

Games	Players	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	13	1/1	0	1	0	1
1984 Los Angeles	17	1/1	1	0	0	1
2024 Paris	18	2/2	0	1	0	1
Total			1	2	0	3

Golf

France competed in the first Olympic golf tournaments in 1900, which the nation hosted. The French golfers' best results that year were 4th place for the women and 10th place for the men. France did not compete in the 1904 golf tournaments. When the sport returned to the Olympics in 2016, France had two men and two women compete; the best result was Grégory Bourdy's 21st-place finish.

Games	Fencers	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	7	2/2	0	0	0	0
2016 Rio de Janeiro	4	2/2	0	0	0	0
Total			0	0	0	0

Gymnastics

France had one gymnast participate in one event in the inaugural 1896 Games. The nation's first medals in the sport came when Paris hosted the Games in 1900; the only event on the schedule was the men's individual all-around, in which France swept the top 18 places.

Games	Gymnasts	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1896 Athens	1	1/8	0	0	0	0
1900 Paris	108	1/1	1	1	1	3
Total			3	10	9	22

Polo

France competed at two of the five editions of Olympic polo tournaments, both occasions when Paris hosted the Games in 1900 and 1924. The nation is formally credited with no medals, though French players competed on a mixed team in 1900 that took bronze. France had a fully-French team as well in 1900, which took fifth place. Both the all-French and the mixed team went 0–1, with the mixed team placed higher due to a bye. The French team in 1924 went 0–4 in the round-robin tournament. Thus, the overall Olympic record of teams with French polo players is 0–6.

Games	Players	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	7	1/1	0	0	0	0
1924 Paris	5	1/1	0	0	0	0
Total			0	0	0	0

Rowing

France hosted the inaugural Olympic rowing contests in Paris 1900. France won 2 of the 5 gold medals, and a French boy served as cox in the final for the otherwise Dutch team that won the coxed pair.

Rugby

France hosted the inaugural Olympic rugby union contest in 1900, winning the gold medal over Germany and Great Britain. France did not play in 1908, but returned in 1920 and 1924.
With the return of rugby, in the form of rugby sevens, in 2016, France competed again. France had both men's and women's teams in 2016; both advanced out of pool play to the quarterfinals but were defeated there.

Games	Players	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1900 Paris	17	1/1	1	0	0	1
1920 Antwerp	15	1/1	0	1	0	1
1924 Paris	30	1/1	0	1	0	1
2016 Rio de Janeiro	25	2/2	0	0	0	0
Total			1	2	0	3

Sailing

France hosted the first Olympic sailing competitions in 1900, earning 24 total medals in the 13 events, including 5 golds.

Games	No. Sailors	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Ranking
1900	451	130/13	5	9	10	24	1
1908	3	1/4	0	0	1	1	4
1912	3	1/4	1	0	0	1	3
1920	3	1/14	0	1	0	1	6
1924	9	3/3	0	0	1	1	5
1928	13	3/3	1	0	0	1	3
1932	3	2/4	1	0	0	1	3
1936	14	4/4	0	0	0	0
1948	17	5/5	0	0	0	0
1952	9	4/5	0	0	0	0
1956	8	4/5	0	0	0	0
1960	11	5/5	0	0	0	0
1964	3	2/5	0	0	0	0
1968	9	4/5	0	0	0	0
1972	11	5/6	1	1	0	2	2
1976	10	5/6	0	0	0	0
1980	0	0/6	0	0	0	0
1984	11	6/7	0	0	1	1	8
1988	13	7/8	2	0	0	2	1
1992	17	10/10	2	0	0	2	2
1996	13	8/10	0	0	0	0
2000	12	7/11	0	0	0	0
2004	18	11/11	1	0	1	2	7
2008	18	11/11	0	1	2	3	9
2012	16	10/10	0	0	1	1	12
2016	15	10/10	1	0	2	3	6
2020	14	9/10	0	2	1	3	8
2024	14	10/10	0	1	1	2	8=
Total	738	278 / 205	15	15	21	51	4

Shooting

France competed in shooting at the inaugural 1896 Games, with one shooter in one event, winning no medals. The nation's first medals came when France hosted the Games in 1900, with 3 golds and 10 total medals that year.

Games	Shooters	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1896 Athens	1	1/5	0	0	0	0
1900 Paris	37	9/9	3	4	3	10
Total			9	14	10	33

Tennis

France first competed in tennis at the inaugural 1896 Games, with one player competing in men's singles and losing in the first round.

Games	Athletes	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1896 Athens	1	1/2	0	0	0	0
1900 Paris	14	4/4	0	1	1	2
Total			5	6	8	19