France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, between 27 July and 12 August 2012. French athletes have competed in every

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

of the modern era. The

French Olympic Committee The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (french: Comité national olympique et sportif français, CNOSF) is the National Olympic Committee of France. It is responsible for France's participation in the Olympic Games, as well as for all ...

sent a total of 330 athletes to the Games, 183 men and 147 women, to compete in 24 sports. France left London with a total of 34 medals—11 gold, 11 silver, and 12 bronze—finishing seventh in the gold medal standings and eighth in the overall medal standings. Most of these medals were awarded to the athletes in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. Six French athletes won more than a single Olympic medal in London. France's team-based athletes proved successful at these games, as the men's national

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

team and the women's national

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team won gold and silver medals, respectively. Furthermore, the men's national handball team managed to defend its 2008 Olympic title from Beijing. For the first time since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, France did not win an Olympic medal in

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

. Among the nation's medalists were

Yannick Agnel Yannick Agnel (born 9 June 1992) is a French former competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle events, and is a three-time Olympic medalist. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he won gold in the 200-meter freesty ...

and

Camille Muffat Camille Muffat (; 28 October 1989 – 9 March 2015) was a French swimmer and three-time Olympic medalist. Swimming for the Olympic Nice Natation club, she specialised in the individual medley and the free style events. Her career ran from 2005 ...

(retired in 2014 and killed tragically in a helicopter crash one year later), who emerged as France's most successful Olympic swimmers after winning three medals, including a gold, in their events. Meanwhile,

Florent Manaudou ] Florent Manaudou (; born 12 November 1990) is a French competitive swimming (sport), swimmer, an Olympic champion of the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother of Laure Manaudou, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist i ...

succeeded his sister Laure Manaudou, Laure with an Olympic gold medal in freestyle swimming.

Renaud Lavillenie Renaud Lavillenie ( or ; born 18 September 1986) is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three Wor ...

set a new Olympic record in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

, becoming the third French man to claim the title, and the first to do so since 1996.

Tony Estanguet Tony Estanguet (born 6 May 1978 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pau) is a French Canoe slalom, slalom canoeist and a three-time Olympic champion in C1. He competed at the international level from 1994 to 2012. Racing career Estanguet won thre ...

won his third gold medal in the men's slalom canoeing singles, making him one of the most successful French athletes in Olympic history. On 11 August 2012, Estanguet was elected to the

IOC Athletes' Commission International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission (IOC AC) is a majority elected body that serves as a link between athletes and the IOC. The mission of the IOC AC is to ensure that athletes' viewpoint remains at the heart of the Olympic Movemen ...

, along with three other athletes.

Medalists

, width="78%" align="left" valign="top" , 1.Competed in preliminaries but not the final relay.
2.In May 2014, the US

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

team member

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ...

received a one-year suspension for anabolic steroid use and was stripped of his medals after 15 July 2012 when he first used. In May 2015, the IOC wrote to US Olympic Committee telling them to collect the medals from teammates

Trell Kimmons David Pretrell "Trell" Kimmons (born July 13, 1985) is an American sprinter. Career At the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics, Kimmons was part of a Gold medal winning 4×100 meters relay squad that established a junior world record ...

Justin Gatlin Justin Alexander Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, ...

, Ryan Bailey,

Jeffery Demps Jeffery Barnard Demps (born January 8, 1990) is an American track and field athlete and former American football running back. He attended the University of Florida, where he was a running back for the Florida Gators football team and a sprinte ...

and

Darvis Patton Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton (born December 4, 1977) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. He is a two-time US Champion in the 200-meter dash and won the silver medal in the event at the 2003 World Champi ...

. Two of Gay's teammates who ran with him in the final, Kimmons and Bailey, had previously also served suspensions. The medals were reallocated, with

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

awarded silver, and France taking bronze. , width="22%" align="left" valign="top" , French Olympic team open-top bus 01

Delegation

The

selected a team of 330 athletes, 183 men and 147 women, to compete in 24 different sports; it was the nation's third largest team outside the host nation, and the first with the highest percentage of women in Olympic history. France did not qualify teams in

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

, but did mark its Olympic return to men's basketball after a twelve-year absence. The French team included past Olympic champions, three of them defending (Greco-Roman wrestler Steeve Guenot, mountain biker

Julien Absalon Julien Arnaud Absalon (born 16 August 1980) is a French cross-country mountain biker. Career 2003: Absalon won his first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. 2004: Gold at World Champions and the Athens Olympic Games. 2005: Absalon again won the Wor ...

, and the men's national handball team). Equestrian eventing rider Denis Mesples, at age 49, was the oldest athlete of the team, while gymnast Anne Kuhm was the youngest, at age 15. Pistol shooter and former Olympic gold medalist

Franck Dumoulin Franck Dumoulin (born May 13, 1973 in Denain) is a pistol shooter from Bordeaux, France. Palmarès Olympic Games World Championships * 1994 World Championships (Milan, Italia) : ** Gold Medal in 10 m Air Pistol ** Bronze Medal in 5 ...

made his sixth appearance, having participated at every Summer Olympics since 1992. Épée fencer and multiple-time Olympic medalist

Laura Flessel-Colovic Laura Flessel-Colovic (born 6 November 1971) is a French politician and épée fencer who served as Minister of Sports from 2017 to 2018. Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, she has won the most Olympic medals of any French sportswoman, with f ...

, meanwhile, became the first French female athlete to compete at five separate Olympic Games. Because of her repeated successes in fencing, Flessel-Colovic became France's first female flag bearer at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

since 1996. Other notable French athletes included slalom canoer and multiple-time world champion

, judoka and Olympic bronze medalist

Teddy Riner Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (, ; born 7 April 1989) is a French judoka. He has won ten World Championships gold medals, the first and only judoka (male or female) to do so, and three Olympic gold medals (two individual, one team). He has also won ...

, swimmer and junior European champion

, pole vaulter and multiple-time European champion

, and basketballer

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...

, who had previously played for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. , width=78% align=left valign=top , The following table lists the number of French competitors who participated in each Olympic sport. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes.

Archery

France qualified three archers for the men's individual event, an archer for the women's individual event and a team for the men's team event:

Athletics

French athletes achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard): ;Men ;Track & road events * Tested positive for the blood-booster EPO; the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

ordered him to leave the Olympics on 10 August 2012. Renaud Lavillenie 2012

;Field events ;Combined events –

Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

Badminton

Basketball

The French men's basketball team qualified for the 2012 Olympics by reaching the final of the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

. The French women's team qualified through the World Qualification Tournament. * Men's team event – 1 team of 12 players * Women's team event – 1 team of 12 players

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarter-final

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarter-final ;Semi-final ;Final

Boxing

France qualified boxers in the following events: ;Men

Canoeing

Slalom

France qualified boats for all slalom events: File:Slalom canoeing 2012 Olympics C2 FRA Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Peche.jpg,

Gauthier Klauss Gauthier Klauss (born 17 December 1987) is former French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2003. His career ended in 2018 after C2 category was removed from the World cup and World championship. He won a bronze me ...

and

Matthieu Péché Matthieu Patrick François Péché (born 7 October 1987, in Épinal) is former French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2003.His career ended in 2018 after C2 category was removed from the World cup and World cham ...

in C-2 semifinal File:Slalom canoeing 2012 Olympics W K1 FRA Emilie Fer.jpg,

Émilie Fer Émilie Fer (born 17 February 1983 in Saint-Maurice) is a French slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 2000 to 2016. She won a gold medal in the K1 event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She a ...

in K-1 semifinal

Sprint

France qualified boats for the following sprint events: ;Men ;Women Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Cycling

Road

;Men ;Women

Track

;Sprint ;Team sprint ;Keirin ;Omnium

Mountain biking

MTB cycling 2012 Olympics M cross-country FRA Julien Absalon

BMX

Diving

France qualified five quota places for the diving events: ;Men ;Women

Equestrian

Dressage

France qualified a single quota by rankings:

Eventing

France qualified one team and five quota places in the individual event after finishing in second place at the 2011 European Eventing Championships.

Show jumping

France qualified one team and four quota places in the individual event after finishing in second place at the

World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive ...

Fencing

France qualified 11 fencers. ;Men ;Women

Football

* Women's team event – 1 team of 18 players

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarter-final ;Semi-final ;Bronze medal game

Gymnastics

Artistic

;Men ;Team ;Individual finals ;Women ;Team ;Individual finals

Rhythmic

Trampoline

Handball

participated in the 2012 Olympics as the defending world men's handball champion, and successfully defended its gold medal from the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. The French women's team qualified through the World Qualification Tournament. * Men's team event – 1 team of 14 players * Women's team event – 1 team of 14 players

Men's tournament

;Group play ;Quarter-final ;Semi-final ;Final

Women's tournament

;Group play ;Quarter-final

Judo

;Men ;Women

Modern pentathlon

France qualified one man and two women.

Rowing

France qualified boats for the following rowing events: ;Men 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

Sailing

France qualified one boat for each of the following events: ;Men ;Women ;Fleet racing ;Match racing ;Open M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race;

Shooting

France earned 14 quota places for the shooting events at the 2012 Olympics: ;Men ;Women

Swimming

French swimmers achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of two swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and one at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)): ;Men ;Women

Synchronized swimming

France qualified two Olympic quota places in synchronized swimming.

Table tennis

France qualified one man and two women.

Taekwondo

France had qualified two places in women's taekwondo.

Tennis

France qualified six Olympic tennis players in 2012: four in the men's events and two in the women's events. France ultimately won two medals – one silver and one bronze – in the men's doubles. ;Men ;Women

Triathlon

France qualified the following triathletes:

Weightlifting

France qualified three men and one woman.

Wrestling

France qualified six quota places: ;Men's freestyle ;Men's Greco-Roman ;Women's freestyle

References

External links

Quota places by nation and name
ISSF. {{commons category, France at the 2012 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2012 in French sport