France competed at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for four athletes in sailing events.

Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories;

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness;

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

;

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories;

visual impairment Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

, including

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

;

Les autres Les Autres sport classification is system used in disability sport for people with locomotor disabilities not included in other classification systems for people with physical disabilities. The purpose of this system is to facilitate fair competiti ...

, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. Each

Paralympic sport The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example

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 ...

, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.

Medalists

Archery

Eric Pereira earned France a spot at the Rio Games following his performance at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships. He qualified the country in the compound men's open event. Brigitte Duboc earned France a second spot, with her performance in the recurve women's open event.

Cycling

With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, France qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements.

Equestrian

The country earned an individual slot via the Para Equestrian Individual Ranking List Allocation method.

Paracanoeing

France earned a qualifying spot at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in this sport following their performance at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships in Milan, Italy where the top six finishers in each Paralympic event earned a qualifying spot for their nation.

Agnès Lacheux Agnès Lacheux (born 11 October 1974) is a French paracanoeist who competes in international level events. She became a paraplegic after a car accident in 1999. Lacheux was once an able-bodied canoeist before her accident, she won a bronze meda ...

earned the spot for France after finishing sixth in the women's KL1 event.

Cindy Moreau Cindy Moreau (born 11 October 1983) is a French paracanoeist. She works as a civilian contract employee for the Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a d ...

earned a second spot for France after finishing third in the women's KL3 event.

Rowing

One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top eight finish at the 2015 FISA World Rowing Championships in a medal event. France qualified for the 2016 Games under this criterion in the TA Mixed Double Sculls event with a third-place finish in a time of 04:06.080. France qualified a second boat with an eighth-place finish in the LTA Mixed Coxed Four event in a time of 03:32.590, thirteen seconds behind first-place finisher, Great Britain, who had a time of 03:19.560.

Sailing

France qualified a boat for two of the three sailing classes at the Games through their results at the 2014 Disabled Sailing World Championships held in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, Canada. Places were earned in the solo 2.4mR event and a crew also qualified for the three-person Sonar class.

Shooting

The first opportunity to qualify for shooting at the Rio Games took place at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl. Shooters earned spots for their NPC. France earned a spot at this competition in the R4 – 10m Air Rifle Standing Mixed SH2 event as a result of the performance of Tanguy De La Forest. In the R7 – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men SH1, Didier Richard gave France their second spot. The country sent shooters to 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, where Rio direct qualification was also available. They earned a qualifying spot at this event based on the performance of Christophe Tanche in the R3 – 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH1 event. The last direct qualifying event for Rio in shooting took place at the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort Benning in November.

Cédric Fèvre-Chevalier Cédric Fèvre-Chevalier (born 1 November 1983 in Dijon) is a Paralympic sports-shooter. He was born with a malformed spinal column. At thirteen he won his first national French title. He won gold in the Mixed 10 metre air rifle prone SH1 event ...

earned a qualifying spot for their country at this competition in the R6 Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 event.

Swimming

The top two finishers in each Rio medal event at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships earned a qualifying spot for their country for Rio.

Charles Rozoy Charles Rozoy (born 4 March 1987 in Chenôve) is a Paralympic swimmer of France who won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-spor ...

earned France a spot after winning silver in the Men's 100m Butterfly S8.

Wheelchair basketball

The

France women's national wheelchair basketball team 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 ...

qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. As hosts, Brazil got to choose which group they were put into. They were partnered with Algeria, who would be put in the group they did not choose. Brazil chose Group A, which included Canada, Germany, Great Britain and Argentina. Algeria ended up in Group B with the United States, the Netherlands, France and China.

Wheelchair rugby

France qualified for the Rio Paralympics. They were scheduled to open play in Rio against the United States on September 14. Their second game was scheduled to be against Japan on September 15. Their final game of group play as against Sweden on September 16. France entered the tournament ranked number seven in the world. ---- ---- Seventh-place match

Wheelchair tennis

France qualified four competitors in the men's single event,

Frédéric Cattanéo Frédéric Cattanéo (born 3 December 1978) is a French wheelchair tennis player who competed in international level events. He is a three-time French Open singles quarterfinalist and was the 2012 French Open wheelchair men's doubles champion ...

Stéphane Houdet Stéphane Houdet (born 20 November 1970) is a French wheelchair tennis player. Houdet is a former singles world number one, and the current doubles world number one. In 2014, he became the first man in history to complete the calendar-year Grand ...

Michaël Jérémiasz Michaël Jérémiasz (born 15 October 1981, in Paris) is a French former professional wheelchair tennis player. He won a gold medal in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and has completed the career Super Slam in doubles. ...

and

Nicolas Peifer Nicolas Peifer (born 13 October 1990, in Strasbourg) is a French wheelchair tennis player. In doubles, Peifer has completed the career Super Slam, having won all four majors, a Paralympic gold medal in 2016, and the Wheelchair Tennis Masters o ...

. France qualified two players in the women's singles event. Charlotte Famin qualified via the standard route. Charlotte Famin earned her slot via a Bipartite Commission Invitation place.

References

{{commons category, France at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Nations at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in French sport