France at the 1956 Summer Olympics
IOC code	FRA
NOC	French National Olympic and Sports Committee
Website	www.franceolympique.com (in French)
in Melbourne/Stockholm
Competitors	137 (119 men and 18 women) in 15 sports
Flag bearer	Jean Debuf
Medals Ranked 11th	Gold 4 Silver 4 Bronze 6 Total 14
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

France competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden (equestrian events). 137 competitors, 119 men and 18 women, took part in 95 events in 15 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Gold

• Alain Mimoun — Athletics, Men's Marathon
• Michel Rousseau — Cycling, Men's 1000m Sprint (Scratch)
• Arnaud Geyre, Maurice Moucheraud, and Michel Vermeulin — Cycling, Men's Team Road Race
• Christian d'Oriola — Fencing, Men's Foil Individual

Silver

• Georges Dransart and Marcel Renaud — Canoeing, Men's C2 10,000m Canadian Pairs
• René Bianchi, Jean Graczyk, Jean-Claude Lecante, and Michel Vermeulin — Cycling, Men's 4000m Team Pursuit
• Arnaud Geyre — Cycling, Men's Individual Road Race
• Bernard Baudoux, Roger Closset, René Coicaud, Christian d'Oriola, Jacques Lataste, and Claude Netter — Fencing, Men's Foil Team

Bronze

• René Libeer — Boxing, Men's Flyweight
• Gilbert Chapron — Boxing, Men's Middleweight
• Daniel Dagallier, Yves Dreyfus, Armand Mouyal, Claude Nigon, and René Queyroux — Fencing, Men's Épée Team
• Renée Garilhe — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual
• Yves Delacour, Guy Guillabert, René Guissart, and Gaston Mercier — Rowing, Men's Coxless Fours
• Jean Debuf — Weightlifting, Men's Middle Heavyweight

Athletics

Men's 110m Hurdles

• Jean-Claude Bernard
  • Heat — 14.7s
  • Semifinals — 14.6s (→ did not advance)
• Edmond Roudnitska
  • Heat — 14.3s
  • Semifinals — 14.9s (→ did not advance)

Men's Marathon

• Alain Mimoun — 2:25:00 (→ Gold Medal)

Basketball

Boxing

Canoeing

Cycling

Sprint

• Michel Rousseau — Gold Medal

Time trial

• Renzo Colzi — 1:15.1 (→ 16th place)

Tandem

• André Gruchet
  Robert Vidal — 5th place

Team pursuit

• Jean Graczyk
  Jean-Claude Lecante
  Michel Vermeulin
  René Bianchi — 4:39.4 (→ Silver Medal)

Team time trial

• Arnaud Geyre
  Maurice Moucheraud
  Michel Vermeulin — 22 points (→ Gold Medal)

Individual time trial

• Arnaud Geyre — 5:23:16 (→ Silver Medal)
• Maurice Moucheraud — 5:23:40 (→ 8th place)
• Michel Vermeulin — 5:23:40 (→ 12th place)
• René Abadie — 5:27:28 (→ 27th place)

Diving

Women's 10m Platform

• Nicole Péllissard-Darrigrand
  • Preliminary Round — 50.02
  • Final — 78.80 (→ 4th place)

Fencing

18 fencers, 15 men and 3 women, represented France in 1956.

Men's foil

• Christian d'Oriola
• Claude Netter
• Jacques Lataste

Men's team foil

• Claude Netter, Bernard Baudoux, Jacques Lataste, Roger Closset, Christian d'Oriola, René Coicaud

Men's épée

• René Queyroux
• Armand Mouyal
• Daniel Dagallier

Men's team épée

• Armand Mouyal, Claude Nigon, Daniel Dagallier, Yves Dreyfus, René Queyroux

Men's sabre

• Jacques Lefèvre
• Jacques Roulot
• Claude Gamot

Men's team sabre

• Claude Gamot, Jacques Lefèvre, Bernard Morel, Jacques Roulot

Women's foil

• Renée Garilhe
• Catherine Delbarre
• Régine Veronnet

Gymnastics

Modern pentathlon

One male pentathlete represented France in 1956.

Individual

• Jean-Claude Hamel

Rowing

France had 13 male rowers participate in two out of seven rowing events in 1956.^[2]

Men's coxless four

• René Guissart
• Yves Delacour
• Gaston Mercier
• Guy Guillabert

Men's eight

• Santé Marcuzzi
• Émile Clerc
• Richard Duc
• Maurice Bas
• Édouard Leguery
• Jean-Jacques Vignon
• Maurice Houdayer
• René Massiasse
• Jacques Vilcoq

Sailing

Shooting

Five shooters represented France in 1956.

25 m pistol

• Charles des Jammonières

50 m pistol

• Charles des Jammonières

50 m rifle, three positions

• Jacques Mazoyer
• Maurice Racca

50 m rifle, prone

• Jacques Mazoyer
• Maurice Racca

Trap

• Robert Pignard
• Michel Prévost

Swimming

Weightlifting

Wrestling