France competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. 266 competitors, 192 men and 74 women, took part in 167 events in 23 sports.
Pierre Durand — Equestrian, Jumping IndividualFrédérick Delpla, Jean-Michel Henry, Olivier Lenglet, Philippe Riboud, and Éric Srecki — Fencing, Men's Épée TeamJean-François Lamour — Fencing, Men's Sabre IndividualMarc Alexandre — Judo, Men's Lightweight (71 kg)Nicolas Hénard and Jean-Yves Le Déroff — Sailing, Men's TornadoThierry Peponnet and Luc Pillot — Sailing, Men's 470Laurent Boudouani — Boxing, Men's WelterweightMargit Otto-Crépin — Equestrian, Dressage IndividualPhilippe Riboud — Fencing, Men's Épée IndividualNicolas Berthelot — Shooting, Men's Air RifleBruno Marie-Rose, Max Morinière, Gilles Quénéhervé, and Daniel Sangouma — Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m RelayJoël Bettin and Philippe Renaud — Canoeing, Men's C2 500 m Canadian PairsHubert Bourdy, Frédéric Cottier, Pierre Durand, and Michel Robert — Equestrian, Jumping TeamBruno Carabetta — Judo, Men's Half Lightweight (60–65 kg)Stéphan Caron — Swimming, Men's 100 m FreestyleCatherine Plewinski — Swimming, Women's 100 m FreestyleIn France's fourth appearance in modern Olympic archery, no individual archer made it past the quarterfinal. The women's team made it to the final, placing last there to finish 8th overall, while the men's team was eliminated in the semifinal.
Women's Individual Competition:
Catherine Pellen — quarterfinal, 14th placeNathalie Hibon — preliminary round, 28th placeM. Bazin — preliminary round, 47th placeMen's Individual Competition:
Olivier Heck — 1/8 final, 19th placeThierry Venant — preliminary round, 37th placeClaude Franclet — preliminary round, 64th placeWomen's Team Competition:
Pellen, Hibon, and Bazin — final, 8th placeMen's Team Competition:
Heck, Venant, and Franclet — semifinal, 10th placeMen's 10.000 metres
Jean-Louis PrianonFirst Round — 28:08.38Final — 27:36.43 (→ 4th place)Paul ArpinFirst Round — 28:25.56Final — 27:39.36 (→ 7th place)Men's 3.000m Steeplechase
Raymond PannierHeat — 8:30.94Semi Final — 8:19.39Final — 8:23.80 (→ 12th place)Bruno Le StumHeat — 8:36.95Semi Final — 8:26.69 (→ did not advance)Men's Javelin Throw
Charlus BertimonQualification — 70.84m (→ did not advance)Stéphane LaporteQualification — 69.40m (→ did not advance)Pascal LefèvreQualification — 76.42m (→ did not advance)Men's Discus Throw
Patrick JournoudQualifying Heat — 58.94m (→ did not advance)Men's Long Jump
Norbert BrigeQualification — 8.05mFinal — 7.97m (→ 7th place)Men's Decathlon
Christian Plaziat — 8272 points (→ 5th place)- 100 metres — 10.83s
- Long Jump — 7.62m
- Shot Put — 13.58m
- High Jump — 2.12m
- 400 metres — 48.34s
- 110m Hurdles — 14.18s
- Discus Throw — 43.06m
- Pole Vault — 4.90m
- Javelin Throw — 52.18m
- 1.500 metres — 4:34.07s
Alain Blondel — 8268 points (→ 6th place)- 100 metres — 11.02s
- Long Jump — 7.43m
- Shot Put — 12.92m
- High Jump — 1.97m
- 400 metres — 47.44s
- 110m Hurdles — 14.40s
- Discus Throw — 41.20m
- Pole Vault — 5.20m
- Javelin Throw — 57.46m
- 1.500 metres — 4:16.64s
Men's 20 km Walk
Martial FesselierFinal — 1:22:43 (→ 16th place)Thierry ToutainFinal — 1:22:55 (→ 18th place)Men's 50 km Walk
Alain LemercierFinal — 3'50:28 (→ 16th place)Jean-Marie NeffFinal — DSQ (→ no ranking)Eric NeisseFinal — DSQ (→ no ranking)
Women's 4 × 400 m Relay
Fabienne Ficher, Nathalie Simon, Evecyne Elien, and Nadine DeboisHeat — 3:29.95Fabienne Ficher, Simon Fabienne, Debois Nathalie, and Elien NadineFinal — 3:29.37 (→ 7th place)Women's Marathon
Françoise BonnetFinal — 2"32:36 (→ 14th place)Maria Rebelo-LelutFinal — 2"33:47 (→ 18th place)Jocelyne VilletonFinal — 2"34:02 (→ 19th place)Women's Javelin Throw
Nadine AuzeilQualification — no mark (→ did not advance)Women's Heptathlon
Chantal BeaugeantFinal Result — 2315 points (→ 28th place)Men's Flyweight (— 51 kg)
Philippe DesavoyeFirst Round — ByeSecond Round — Defeated Anthony Ikegu (KEN), RSC-2Third Round — Lost to Melvin de Leon (DOM), 0:5Men's Bantamweight (— 54 kg)
Jean-Marc AugustinFirst Round — Lost to Byun Jong-Il (KOR), 0:5Men's Light Welterweight (— 63.5 kg)
Ludovic ProtoFirst Round — Defeated Mpuco Makama (SUA), walk-overSecond Round — Defeated Mark Elliott (GBR), RSC-1Third Round — Lost to Vyacheslav Yanovski (URS), 0:5Men's Welterweight (— 67 kg)
Laurent Boudouani → Silver MedalFirst Round — ByeSecond Round — Defeated Imre Bácskai (HUN), 4:1Third Round — Defeated Darren Obah (AUS), 5:0Quarterfinals — Defeated Song Kyung-Sup (KOR), 3:2Semifinals — Defeated Kenneth Gould (USA), 4:1Final — Lost to Robert Wangila (KEN), KO-2Sixteen cyclists, twelve men and four women, represented France in 1988.
Men's road raceJean-François LaffilléClaude CarlinLaurent BezaultMen's team time trialLaurent BezaultEric HeulotPascal LanceThierry LaurentMen's sprintFabrice ColasMen's 1 km time trialFrédéric MagnéMen's team pursuitHervé DagornéPascal LinoDidier PasgrimaudPascal PotiéMen's points racePascal LinoWomen's road raceCatherine MarsalJeannie Longo-CiprelliCécile OdinWomen's sprintIsabelle Gautheron19 fencers, 14 men and 5 women, represented France in 1988.
Men's foilPhilippe OmnèsLaurent BelPatrick GrocMen's team foilLaurent Bel, Patrick Groc, Youssef Hocine, Patrice Lhotellier, Philippe OmnèsMen's épéePhilippe RiboudÉric SreckiJean-Michel HenryMen's team épéeFrédéric Delpla, Jean-Michel Henry, Olivier Lenglet, Philippe Riboud, Éric SreckiMen's sabreJean-François LamourPhilippe DelrieuPierre GuichotMen's team sabrePhilippe Delrieu, Franck Ducheix, Pierre Guichot, Jean-François LamourWomen's foilIsabelle SpennatoBrigitte Latrille-GaudinLaurence Modaine-CessacWomen's team foilBrigitte Latrille-Gaudin, Gisèle Meygret, Laurence Modaine-Cessac, Nathalie Pallet, Isabelle SpennatoThree male pentathletes represented France in 1988.
Men's Individual Competition:
Christophe Ruer — 5242 pts (→ 5th place)Joël Bouzou — 5198 pts (→ 8th place)Bruno Génard — 4828 pts (→ 37th place)Men's Team Competition:
Ruer, Bouzou, and Genard — 15268 pts (→ 4th place)Men's 50 m Freestyle
Stéphan CaronHeat — 23.22B-Final — scratched (→ no ranking)Christophe KalfayanHeat — 23.47B-Final — 23.15 (→ 13th place)Men's 100 m Freestyle
Stéphan CaronHeat — 49.37Final — 49.62 (→ Bronze Medal)Christophe KalfayanHeat — 51.05 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Men's 200 m Freestyle
Stéphan CaronHeat — 1:49.66B-Final — scratched (→ no ranking)Ludovic DepickèreHeat — 1:53.81 (→ did not advance, 35th place)Men's 400 m Freestyle
Franck IaconoHeat — 4:00.04 (→ did not advance, 30th place)Men's 1500 m Freestyle
Christophe MarchandHeat — 15:22.19 (→ did not advance, 12th place)Franck IaconoHeat — 15:22.66 (→ did not advance, 13th place)Men's 100 m Backstroke
Franck SchottHeat — 56.76B-Final — 56.98 (→ 10th place)Renaud BoucherHeat — 58.90 (→ did not advance, 31st place)Men's 200 m Backstroke
David HolderbachHeat — 2:04.83 (→ did not advance, 21st place)Men's 100 m Breaststroke
David LeblancHeat — 1:04.56 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Cédric PenicaudHeat — 1:05.46 (→ did not advance, 36th place)Men's 200 m Breaststroke
Cédric PenicaudHeat — 2:18.72B-Final — 2:18.95 (→ 16th place)David LeblancHeat — DSQ (→ did not advance, no ranking)Men's 100 m Butterfly
Ludovic DepickèreHeat — 56.47 (→ did not advance, 27th place)Men's 200 m Butterfly
Christophe BordeauHeat — 2:01.70B-Final — 2:01.46 (→ 13th place)Men's 200 m Individual Medley
Christophe BordeauHeat — 2:04.95B-Final — 2:05.51 (→ 12th place)Men's 400 m Individual Medley
Christophe BordeauHeat — 4:23.46B-Final — 4:23.39 (→ 10th place)Laurent JournetHeat — 4:29.03 (→ did not advance, 18th place)Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Stéphan Caron, Christophe Kalfayan, Laurent Neuville, and Bruno GutzeitHeat — 3:21.77Final — 3:20.02 (→ 4th place)Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Stéphan Caron, Michel Pou, Olivier Fougeroud, and Laurent NeuvilleHeat — 7:23.03Michel Pou, Franck Iacono, Olivier Fougeroud, and Ludovic DepickèreFinal — 7:24.69 (→ 7th place)Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Franck Schott, David Leblanc, Ludovic Depickère, and Bruno GutzeitHeat — 3:48.64 (→ did not advance, 10th place)
Women's 50 m Freestyle
Catherine PlewinskiHeat — 26.01Final — 25.90 (→ 7th place)Women's 100 m Freestyle
Catherine PlewinskiHeat — 55.53Final — 55.49 (→ Bronze Medal)Jacqueline DélordHeat — 58.22 (→ did not advance, 29th place)Women's 200 m Freestyle
Cécile PrunierHeat — 2:01.60Final — 2:02.88 (→ 8th place)Women's 400 m Freestyle
Cécile PrunierHeat — 4:15.63B-Final — 4:21.03 (→ 16th place)Women's 800 m Freestyle
Karyn FaureHeat — 8:41.64 (→ did not advance, 13th place)Cécile PrunierHeat — 8:57.22 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Women's 100 m Backstroke
Laurence GuillouHeat — 1:05.07 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Women's 200 m Backstroke
Christine MagnierHeat — 2:24.15 (→ did not advance, 25th place)Women's 100 m Breaststroke
Pascaline LouvrierHeat — 1:13.21 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Virginie BojarynHeat — 1:13.55 (→ did not advance, 26th place)Women's 200 m Breaststroke
Virginie BojarynHeat — 2:37.38 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Pascaline LouvrierHeat — 2:38.75 (→ did not advance, 26th place)Women's 100 m Butterfly
Catherine PlewinskiHeat — 59.34Final — 59.58 (→ 4th place)Jacqueline DélordHeat — 1:02.24B-Final — 1:02.45 (→ 11th place)Women's 200 m Butterfly
Claire SupiotHeat — 2:21.65 (→ did not advance, 25th place)Women's 400 m Individual Medley
Christine MagnierHeat — 4:51.91Final — 4:53.29 (→ 14th place)Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Laurence Guillou, Pascaline Louvrier, Catherine Plewinski, and Jacqueline DélordHeat — 4:16.21 (→ did not advance, 10th place)Three synchronized swimmers represented France in 1988.
Women's soloMuriel HermineAnne CapronKarine SchulerWomen's duetAnne CapronKarine SchulerWomen's Singles Competition
Catherine SuireFirst Round — Defeated Yayuk Basuki (Indonesia) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0Second Round — Defeated Jeong-Myung Lee (South Korea) 7-5, 4-6, 7-5Third Round — Lost to Steffi Graf (West Germany) 3-6, 0-6Isabelle DemongeotFirst Round — Lost to Jana Novotná (Czechoslovakia) 4-6, 3-6Nathalie TauziatFirst Round — Defeated Carling Bassett-Seguso (Canada) 7-6, 6-1Second Round — Lost to Catarina Lindqvist (Sweden) 6-2, 3-6, 4-6Preliminary Round (Group B)Defeated the Netherlands (3-1)Defeated Tunisia (3-0)Defeated Japan (3-1)Lost to United States (0-3)Defeated Argentina (3-0)Classification Matches5th/8th place: Lost to Bulgaria (0-3)7th/8th place: Lost to Sweden (2-3) → 8th placeTeam RosterPhilippe BlainJean-Baptiste MartzluffHerve MazzonEric N'GapethEric BouvierChristophe MeneauJean-Marc JurkovitzLaurent TillieOlivier RossardPatrick DuflosAlain FabianiPhilippe SalvanHead Coach: Eric DanielMen's Team Competition
Preliminary Round (Group A)Defeated South Korea (16-5)Lost to West Germany (9-10)Lost to Soviet Union (4-18)Lost to Australia (6-7)Lost to Italy (8-14)Classification Round (Group E)Defeated China (11-4)Lost to Greece (7-10) → Tenth placeTeam RosterArnaud BouetMarc BrisferMarc CrousillatPierre GarsauBruno BoyadjianPhilippe HerveMichel IdouxThierry AlimondoMichel CrousillatNicolas MarischaelNicolas JeleffPascal PerotChristian VolpiHead Coach: Jean Paul ClemenconFirst-heavyweight 90–100 kg
Francis Tournefier — 5th place, 385.0 kg (170.0 kg/ 215.0 kg)