France at the Olympics
France is one of five countries to have been represented at all Summer Olympic Games (the others are Greece, Great Britain, Switzerland and Australia). France is one of the countries that were there in the Inaugural Summer Games in Athens, Greece 1896. As a matter of fact, they were one of the top teams of the nations that participated.
They even hosted the very next Summer Games in Paris in 1900 which they dominated winning a total of 101 Olympic medals, 26 of which were gold, making them the top team that year. Then come 1904. France was not able to send a delegation to St. Louis, USA but a Frenchman, Albert Corey, ran the marathon and won silver. However, this silver medal was not attributed to France since the International Olympic Committee awarded the medal to the United States since Corey ran in the American team for the 4-mile team race. But Corey is still considered as France's sole representative to the 1904 Summer Games.
This hasn't put any dent on France's status as one of the forces to be reckoned with in the Summer Games because 1904 is the only year that they officially did not win an Olympic medal. They went on to host the 1924 Summer Olympics where they ranked third overall with 38 medals which includes 13 gold. They are also very consistent in their performance rarely slipping out of the top ten countries. Since 1896, they only did so a total of four times.
France will host the 2024 Olympic Games.
The story is pretty much the same for the Winter Games. They have been participating, and dominating, since 1924 which they hosted in Chamonix. They went on to host the Winter Olympics a few more times before the turn of the century and their best performance so far is in 1968 when they hosted the Winter Games in Grenoble and finished in third place overall.
Trivia
- France have hosted the Olympic Games twice, 1900 and 1924, both being held in the capital city Paris. Paris will be the host city in 2024.
- It is commonly believed that the first women to take part in the Olympic Games occurred on June 28 1900, when French players Marie Ohnier, Mme Brohy and Mme Filleaul Brohy participated in croquet, but actually a female swiss sailor Hélène de Pourtalès competed a month earlier than that.
- At the 1912 Games the 6m class yacht race winner was the French winner "Mac Miche" was crewed by the three Thube brothers.
- In 1996, France's Marie-José Perec won both the 200m and 400m sprints.
Related Pages
- France at the Winter Olympics
- More trivia from each Country at the Olympic Games
- Paris Olympic Games 1900
- Paris Olympic Games 1924
- Paris Olympic Games 2024
- About Sport in France
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