France competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 227 competitors, 197 men and 30 women, took part in 132 events in 18 sports.
Daniel Morelon — Cycling, Men's 1000m Sprint (Scratch)
Serge Maury — Sailing, Men's Finn
Guy Drut — Athletics, Men's 110m Hurdles
Jacques Ladegaillerie — Fencing, Men's Épée Individual
Michel Carrega — Shooting, Men's Trap Shooting
Marc Pajot and Yves Pajot — Sailing, Men's Flying Dutchman
Gilles Bertould, Jacques Carette, Francis Kerbiriou, and Roger Vélasquez — Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m Relay
Jean-Claude Olry and Jean-Louis Olry — Canoeing, Men's C2 Canadian Slalom Pairs
Christian Noël — Fencing, Men's Foil Individual
Gilles Berolatti, Jean-Claude Magnan, Christian Noël, Daniel Revenu, and Bernard Talvard — Fencing, Men's Foil Team
Jean-Jacques Mounier — Judo, Men's Lightweight (63 kg)
Jean-Paul Coché — Judo, Men's Middleweight (80 kg)
Jean-Claude Brondani — Judo, Men's Open Class
In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, France entered three men and two women. Their highest placing competitor was Jacques Doyen, at 21st place in the men's competition.
Men's Individual Competition:
Jacques Doyen – 2369 points (→ 21st place)
Louis Lemirre – 2266 points (→ 42nd place)
Alain Convard – 2251 points (→ 44th place)
Women's Individual Competition:
Herrad Frey – 2230 points (→ 27th place)
Pierrette Dame – 2196 points (→ 31st place)
Men's 100 metres
André Byrame
First Heat — 10.64s (→ did not advance)
Men's 800 metres
Alain Sans
Heat — 1:49.2
Semifinals — 1:49.6 (→ did not advance)
Roqui Sanchez
Heat — 1:47.9 (→ did not advance)
Francis Gonzales
Heat — 1:48.8 (→ did not advance)
Men's 1500 metres
Jean-Pierre Dufrasne
Heat — 3:40.8
Semifinals — 3:41.6 (→ did not advance)
Jacques Boxberger
Heat — 3:42.6
Semifinals — 3:42.4 (→ did not advance)
Robert Leborgne
Heat — DNS (→ did not advance)
Men's 5,000 metres
Raymond Zembri
Heat — 14:34.4 (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Patrick Bourbeillon, Jean-Pierre Gros, Gérard Fenouil, and Bruno Cherrier
Heat — 39.01s
Semifinals — 39.00s
Final — 39.14s (→ 7th place)
Men's High Jump
Bernard Gauthier
Qualifying Round — 2.15m
Final — 2.15m (→ 14th place)
Henry Elliott
Qualifying Round — 2.15m
Final — 2.10m (→ 15th place)
Men's Pole Vault
François Tracanelli
Qualifying Round — 5.10m
Final — 5.10m (→ 8th place)
Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg)
Rabah Kaloufi
First Round — Lost to Maurice O'Sullivan (GBR), 2:3
Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg)
Michel Belliard
First Round — Bye
Second Round — Lost to Alan Jenkinson (AUS), 1:4
Fifteen cyclists represented France in 1972.
Individual road race
Régis Ovion — 15th place
Bernard Bourreau — 39th place
Marcel Duchemin — 65th place
Raymond Martin — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Team time trial
Henri Fin
Claude Magni
Jean-Claude Meunier
Guy Sibille
Sprint
Daniel Morelon
Gérard Quintyn
Sprint
Pierre Trentin
Final — 1:07.85 (→ 10th place)
Tandem
Daniel Morelon and Pierre Trentin → 4th place
Individual pursuit
Michel Zucarelli
Team pursuit
Bernard Bocquet
Jacques Bossis
Michel Zucarelli
Jean-Jacques Fussien
Men's 3m Springboard
Alain Goosen – 322.41 points (→ 22nd place)
Men's 10m Platform
Jacques de Schouver – 287.04 points (→ 13th place)
Women's 3m Springboard
Christiane Wiles – 229.56 points (→ 28th place)
19 fencers, 15 men and 4 women represented France in 1972.
Men's foil
Christian Noël
Daniel Revenu
Bernard Talvard
Men's team foil
Jean-Claude Magnan, Daniel Revenu, Christian Noël, Gilles Berolatti, Bernard Talvard
Men's épée
Jacques La Degaillerie
Jacques Brodin
François Jeanne
Men's team épée
François Jeanne, Jacques Brodin, Pierre Marchand, Jean-Pierre Allemand, Jacques La Degaillerie
Men's sabre
Régis Bonissent
Bernard Vallée
Philippe Bena
Men's team sabre
Régis Bonissent, Bernard Dumont, Bernard Vallée, Philippe Bena, Serge Panizza
Women's foil
Marie-Chantal Depetris-Demaille
Catherine Rousselet-Ceretti
Brigitte Gapais-Dumont
Women's team foil
Marie-Chantal Depetris-Demaille, Catherine Rousselet-Ceretti, Claudie Herbster-Josland, Brigitte Gapais-Dumont
Men's Team Competition
Preliminary Round (Group A)
Lost to Pakistan (0-3)
Defeated Uganda (3-1)
Lost to Belgium (0-1)
Lost to Malaysia (0-1)
Lost to Spain (2-3)
Defeated Argentina (1-0)
Lost to West Germany (0-4)
Classification Match
11th/12th place: Lost to Poland (4-7) after extra time → 12th place
Team Roster
Jean–Paul Sauthier
Patrick Burtschell
Pierre Roussel
Charles Pous
Christian Honegger
Marc Remise
Olivier Moreau
Georges Grain
Francis Coutou
Eric Pitau
Alain Tetard
Gilles Capelle
Marc Chapon
Georges Corbel
Jean–Luc Darfeuille
Yves Langlois
Three male pentathletes represented France in 1972.
Men's Individual Competition:
Michel Gueguen – 5072 points (→ 10th place)
Jean-Pierre Giudicelli – 4807 points (→ 22nd place)
Raoul Gueguen – 4638 points (→ 30th place)
Men's Team Competition:
Giudicelli, M.Gueguen, and R.Gueguen – 14559 points (→ 7th place)
Men's Coxed Pairs
Jean-Claude Coucardon, Christian Durniak and Alain Lacoste
Heat — 8:09.62
Repechage — 8:15.25 (→ did not advance)
Thirteen male shooters represented France in 1972.
25 m pistol
Jean Baumann
Jean-Richard Germont
50 m pistol
Gérard Denecheau
Jean Faggion
50 m rifle, three positions
Gilbert Emptaz
Patrice de Mullenheim
50 m rifle, prone
Michel Fontaine
André Noël
50 m running target
Roger Renaux
Trap
Michel Carrega
Jean-Jacques Baud
Skeet
Élie Pénot
Roger Mangin
Men's 100m Freestyle
Michel Rousseau
Heat — 52.93s
Semifinals — 52.82s
Final — 52.90s (→ 7th place)
Gilles Vigne
Heat — 54.34s (→ did not advance)
Alain Hermitte
Heat — 54.57s (→ did not advance)
Men's 200m Freestyle
Pierre Caland
Heat — 2:00.75 (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Gilles Vigne, Alain Mosconi, Alain Hermitte, and Michel Rousseau
Heat — 3:35.84
Final — 3:34.13 (→ 7th place)
Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Pierre Caland, Pierre-Yves Copin, Jean-Jacques Moine, and Michel Rousseau
Heat — 8:00.79 (→ did not advance)
Men's Slalom:
Jean-Michel Jamin – 38.0 points (→ Bronze Medal)
Men's Figure Skiing:
Jean-Yves Parpette – 2740 points (→ 12th place)
Men's Jump:
Jean-Yves Parpette – 34.75 points (→ 8th place)
Women's Slalom:
Sylvie Maurial – 28.0 points (→ 4th place)
Women's Figure Skiing:
Sylvie Maurial – 2560 points (→ Bronze Medal)
Women's Jump:
Sylvie Maurial – 27.40 points (→ Gold Medal)
