France competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. French athletes had appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, Great Britain, and Greece. The French Olympic Committee sent its largest ever delegation in Olympic history outside of when it was the host nation, with a total of 401 athletes, 232 men and 169 women, competing in all sports, except field hockey.
The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes:
Three French archers qualified for the men's events by virtue of the nation's podium finish in the team recurve competition at the 2016 Archery World Cup meet in Antalya, Turkey.[2]
French athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[3][4]
On 25 April 2016, marathon runner Christelle Daunay and race walkers Yohann Diniz and Kévin Campion became the first French athletes to be selected to the Olympic team.[5] Decathlete Kévin Mayer and women's 20 km (12 mi) racewalker Émilie Menuet were named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016.[6]
A total of 22 athletes (11 per gender) were added to the track and field team for the Games, based on their performances achieved at the French Championships & Olympic Trials ( 24 to 26 June) in Angers, with Mélina Robert-Michon throwing the discus at her fifth straight Games, Kafétien Gomis returning for his second Olympics in the long jump after a 12-year absence, and pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie aiming to defend his Olympic pole vault title. Other athletes also featured Christophe Lemaitre, middle-distance runner Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, steeplechaser and double Olympic silver medalist Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, and 2015 Worlds bronze medalist Alexandra Tavernier (women's hammer throw).[7] Twenty-seven more athletes rounded out the French roster at the end of the qualifying period, extending its size to a total of 54.[8][9]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
France has qualified two badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament. London 2012 Olympian Brice Leverdez and Delphine Lansac were selected among the top 34 individual shuttlers each in the men's and women's singles based on the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016.[10]
France men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by securing its lone outright berth and winning the final match over Canada at the Manila leg of the 2016 FIBA World Qualifying Tournament.[11]
Team roster
The following is the France roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[12]
France men's national basketball team – 2016 Summer Olympics roster
France has entered ten boxers (eight men and two women) to compete in the following weight classes into the Olympic boxing tournament. Mathieu Bauderlique was the only Frenchman finishing among the top two of their respective division in the AIBA Pro Boxing series, while 2012 Olympian Tony Yoka earned a lone outright Olympic berth in the super heavyweight bout at the 2015 World Championships.[16][17] Three more boxers (Oumiha, Assomo, and Biongolo) had claimed their Olympic spots at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Samsun, Turkey.[18]
Sarah Ourahmoune and Estelle Mossely were confirmed as France's first ever female Olympic boxers with a quarterfinal victory each in women's flyweight and lightweight division, respectively, at the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.[19] Meanwhile, Souleymane Cissokho, Elie Konki, and Hassan Amzile secured additional Olympic places on the French roster at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.[20]
French canoeists have qualified a maximum of one boat in each of the following classes through the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.[21] The roster of French slalom canoeists, led by London 2012 Olympians Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Péché, was announced on 10 April 2016 as a result of their top performances at the Olympic Trials in Pau.[22]
French canoeists have qualified one boat in each of the following events through the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.[23] The sprint canoeing team was named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016.[6]
French riders qualified for the following quota places in the men's and women's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 15 final national ranking in the 2015 UCI World Tour (for men) and top 22 in the UCI World Ranking (for women).[24][25] The women's road cycling team (Cordon & Ferrand-Prévot) was named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016, with four male cyclists (Alaphilippe, Bardet, Barguil, & Pinot, later remplaced by Vuillermoz) joining them on 13 July.[6][8]
Following the completion of the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, French riders accumulated spots in both men's and women's team sprint, as well as the men's and women's omnium. As a result of their place in the men's and women's team sprint, France has won the right to enter two riders in both men's and women's sprint and men's and women's keirin.
The French Cycling Federation announced the track cycling squad for the Olympics on 5 April 2016, including 2012 double silver medalist Grégory Baugé in the men's sprint.[26]
French mountain bikers qualified for three men's and two women's quota places into the Olympic cross-country race, as a result of the nation's second-place finish for men and fourth for women, respectively, in the UCI Olympic Ranking List of 25 May 2016. The mountain biking team was named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016, with double Olympic champion Julien Absalon remarkably going to his fourth Games.[6]
French riders qualified for three men's and one women's quota place in BMX at the Olympics, as a result of the nation's fourth-place finish for men and fifth for women in the UCI Olympic Ranking List of 31 May 2016. The BMX riders, led by London 2012 Olympian Joris Daudet, were named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016.[6]
French divers qualified for the following individual and synchronized team spots at the 2016 Summer Olympics through the World Championships and the FINA World Cup series. The diving squad was selected as part of the first batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 27 April 2016.[5][27]
French fencers have qualified a full squad each in the men's team foil, men's team épée, and women's team sabre by virtue of their top 4 national finish in the FIE Olympic Team Rankings, while the women's épée team picked up a spare berth freed by Africa for being the next highest ranking team.[29] Sabre fencer Vincent Anstett, along with 2012 Olympic foilists Astrid Guyart and Ysaora Thibus had claimed their spots on the French team by finishing among the top 14 in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings.[30]
The men's foil fencers (Cadot, Le Pechoux, & Lefort), along with the épée teams (both men and women), were named to the Olympic roster on 26 May 2016.[31][32] The women's sabre team rounded out the fencing selection on 2 June 2016.[33]
The fencing team was officially named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016.[6]
France's women's football team qualified for the Olympics by reaching the top three for European teams at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.[34]
France named a squad of 18 players and 4 alternates for the tournament, which was announced on 7 July 2016.[35] Prior to the tournament, Laura Georges withdrew injured and was replaced on 18 July 2016 by Sakina Karchaoui, who was initially selected as an alternate player.[36]Sandie Toletti subsequently filled the vacant alternate spot.
France has entered four golfers (two per gender) into the Olympic tournament. Grégory Bourdy (world no. 112), Julien Quesne (world no. 123), Karine Icher (world no. 60), and Gwladys Nocera (world no. 134) qualified directly among the top 60 players for their respective individual events based on the IGF World Rankings as of 11 July 2016.[41][42]
France has fielded a full squad of ten gymnasts (five men and five women) into the Olympic competition. Both men's and women's squads had claimed one of the remaining four spots each in the team all-around at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.[43][44] The French Olympic Committee named the men's and women's artistic gymnastics teams on 27 June 2016.[45]
France has qualified one gymnast in the men's trampoline by virtue of a top eight finish at the 2015 World Championships in Odense, Denmark.[48] Meanwhile, a spare Olympic berth freed by the Tripartite Commission had been awarded to the French female gymnast, as the next highest from the eligible NOC on the individual ranking list at the 2016 Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.[49] The French Olympic Committee had selected Sébastien Martiny and Marine Jurbert to compete in both men's and women's trampoline, respectively, at the Games.[45]
The French women's handball team qualified for the Olympics by virtue of a top two finish at the first meet of the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Metz.[52]
Team roster
The following is the French roster in the women's handball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[53]
France has qualified a full squad of 14 judokas (seven men and seven women) for each of the following weight classes at the Games by virtue of their top 22 national finish for men and top 14 for women in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016. The judo team was named to the Olympic roster on 1 June 2016, including defending Olympic heavyweight champion Teddy Riner, and London 2012 bronze medalists Priscilla Gneto, Automne Pavia, Gévrise Émane, and Audrey Tcheuméo.[54][55]
French athletes have qualified for the following spots to compete in modern pentathlon. Valentin Prades, Valentin Belaud, and Élodie Clouvel secured a selection each in the men's and women's event through the 2015 European Championships.[56]
Athlete
Event
Fencing (épée one touch)
Swimming (200 m freestyle)
Riding (show jumping)
Combined: shooting/running (10 m air pistol)/(3200 m)
France has qualified a total of seven boats for each of the following rowing classes into the Olympic regatta. Six rowing crews had confirmed Olympic places for their boats at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, while the men's four rowers were further added to the French roster with their top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.
On 28 June 2016, a total of 18 rowers (14 men and 4 women) were selected to the French team for the Games, including London 2012 silver medalists Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette in the men's coxless pair.[7]
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
France has qualified one boat for each of the following classes at the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, bringing the maximum quota of 15 sailors, in ten boats.[63]
On 2 December 2015, the French Sailing Federation had selected the first five sailors to compete at the Rio regatta, including Olympic silver medalist Jonathan Lobert in the Finn class.[64][65] The rest of the French sailing fleet were named to the Olympic team through a series of selection meets in February 2016; among them featured two-time Olympic Laser sailor Jean-Baptiste Bernaz, and four-time World mixed multihull champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou.[66][67]
French shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 31 March 2016.[68]
The entire shooting squad, led by Olympic bronze medalists Anthony Terras (2008) and Céline Goberville (2012), was announced as part of the initial batch to the Olympic team selection on 25 April 2016.[5]
French swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[69][70] Swimmers must attain the federation's entry standards in finals at the 2016 French Elite Championships in Montpellier (29 March to 3 April) to assure their selection to the Olympic team.[71]
France has fielded a squad of two synchronized swimmers to compete only in the women's duet by virtue of their first-place finish at the FINA Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro.[73][74]
France has entered four athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games. Emmanuel Lebesson secured one of the remaining Olympic spots in the men's singles by winning the repechage group final at the European Qualification Tournament in Halmstad, Sweden.[75]
Simon Gauzy and London 2012 Olympian Li Xue were automatically selected among the top 22 eligible players each in their respective singles events, while Carole Grundisch granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the women's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.[76]
Tristan Flore was awarded the third spot to build the men's team for the Games by virtue of a top 10 national finish in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.[77][78]
On 28 July 2016, Grundisch withdrew from the Games due to her elbow injury sustained in a cycling accident.[79]
France entered four athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. M'Bar N'Diaye, Yasmina Aziez, Haby Niaré, and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Gwladys Épangue qualified automatically for their respective weight classes by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.[80][81]
France has entered nine tennis players (six men and three women) into the Olympic tournament. Richard Gasquet (world no. 10), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (world no. 12), Gaël Monfils (world no. 15), and Gilles Simon (world no. 18) qualified directly for the men's singles as four of the top 56 eligible players in the ATP World Rankings, while Alizé Cornet (world no. 59), Caroline Garcia (world no. 38), and Kristina Mladenovic (world no. 32) did so for the women's singles based on their WTA World Rankings as of 6 June 2016.[7][82]
On 18 July 2016, Gasquet pulled out of the Games due to a back injury and was replaced by Benoît Paire (world no. 24), the next eligible player from France.[84]
France has qualified a total of five triathletes for the Olympics. London 2012 Olympian Vincent Luis secured the men's triathlon spot with a top three finish at the ITU World Qualification Event in Rio de Janeiro.[85] Meanwhile, rookies Dorian Coninx and Pierre Le Corre, along with Cassandre Beaugrand, were ranked among the top 40 eligible triathletes each in the men's and women's event, respectively, based on the ITU Olympic Qualification List as of 15 May 2016.[86] Audrey Merle rounded out the French triathlon roster as a replacement for Emmie Charayron, who announced her withdrawal from the Games for medical reasons on 5 July 2016.[87]
France men's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics by virtue of a top three national finish at the first meet of the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sport for the first time since 2004.[88]
Team roster
The following is the French roster in the men's volleyball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[89]
France men's water polo team qualified for the Olympics by virtue of a top four finish at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Trieste, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sport for the first time since 1992.[90]
Team roster
The following is the French roster in the men's water polo tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[91]
French weightlifters have qualified three men's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships. A single women's Olympic spot had been added to the French roster by virtue of a top six national finish at the 2016 European Championships.[92] The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by 20 June 2016.
The weightlifting team was named as part of the second batch of nominated athletes to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016, with Benjamin Hennequin going to his third straight Olympics.[6] Meanwhile, Kévin Bouly was added to the French weightlifting roster on 24 June 2016, following the omission of several weightlifters from the rankings list at the World Championships and their failure on the doping tests.[93]
France has qualified two wrestlers for each the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to book an Olympic spot in the men's freestyle 74 kg at the 2015 World Championships, while the other had claimed the remaining slot in the women's freestyle 75 kg to round out the French roster at the initial meet of the World Qualification Tournament in Ulaanbaatar.[94]
