France (FRA)

France can be said to be the home of the Modern Olympic Games, being the home of Pierre de Coubertin, their founder. Not unexpectedly, it has competed at every celebration of the Olympic Games and at every Olympic Winter Games, although the 1904 St. Louis participation is disputed because of the presence of Albert Corey, who was a French national but competed for the Chicago Athletic Association. In addition to appearing at all the Olympic Games, France has hosted six Olympic Games, second only to the United States. These were the Games of the IInd Olympiad in Paris in 1900, the Games of the VIIIth Olympiad in Paris in 1924, the 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924, the 10th Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble in 1968, the 16th Olympic Winter Games in Albertville in 1992 and the Games of the XXXVIIIth Olympiad in Paris in 2024. France is also scheduled to host the 26th Olympic Winter Games in the French Alps in 2030.

France’s greatest athletic successes have come in the sports of cycling and fencing, sports at which it has often been the dominant nation. Through 2024, France has won a total of 962 Olympic medals (285 gold). Their best participation by far was at the 1900 Summer Olympics, held in their home nation, where they won 111 medals and 31 gold.

One athlete from France has won five gold medals: Martin Fourcade, at the Olympic Winter Games, with a total of five gold and two silver, from 2010 to 2018. Fencers Philippe Cattiau and Roger Ducret are the only French Olympians with a total of eight medals, both with three gold, four silver and one bronze. At the 2024 Paris Olympics Léon Marchand won five medals in swimming, four of them gold.

France has won 138 medals at the Olympic Winter Games, of which 41 have been gold medals. Their best Winter sport has been Alpine skiing, in which they have won 51 medals and 16 gold medals, followed by biathlon, with 32 medals and 12 gold medals.

Besides Fourcade, France’s greatest winter sports hero has likely been Alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy, who won all three available gold medals at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games. Killy later became a member of the International Olympic Committee. Biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet is next on the gold medal count, with five medals and two golds, all achieved at Beijing 2022. The top French female Winter Olympian has been Marie Dorin-Habert, with four biathlon medals in 2010 and 2018.

In 1994 the Olympic Committee of France was awarded with the Olympic Cup.