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 Individual
Frédérick Delpla, Jean-Michel Henry, Olivier Lenglet, Philippe Riboud, and Éric Srecki — Fencing, Men's Épée Team
Jean-François Lamour — Fencing, Men's Sabre Individual
Marc Alexandre — Judo, Men's Lightweight (71 kg)
Nicolas Hénard and Jean-Yves Le Déroff — Sailing, Men's Tornado
Thierry Peponnet and Luc Pillot — Sailing, Men's 470
Laurent Boudouani — Boxing, Men's Welterweight
Margit Otto-Crépin — Equestrian, Dressage Individual
Philippe Riboud — Fencing, Men's Épée Individual
Nicolas Berthelot — Shooting, Men's Air Rifle
Bruno Marie-Rose, Max Morinière, Gilles Quénéhervé, and Daniel Sangouma — Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Joël Bettin and Philippe Renaud — Canoeing, Men's C2 500 m Canadian Pairs
Hubert Bourdy, Frédéric Cottier, Pierre Durand, and Michel Robert — Equestrian, Jumping Team
Bruno Carabetta — Judo, Men's Half Lightweight (60–65 kg)
Stéphan Caron — Swimming, Men's 100 m Freestyle
Catherine Plewinski — Swimming, Women's 100 m Freestyle
In 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 place
Nathalie Hibon — preliminary round, 28th place
M. Bazin — preliminary round, 47th place
Men's Individual Competition:
Olivier Heck — 1/8 final, 19th place
Thierry Venant — preliminary round, 37th place
Claude Franclet — preliminary round, 64th place
Women's Team Competition:
Pellen, Hibon, and Bazin — final, 8th place
Men's Team Competition:
Heck, Venant, and Franclet — semifinal, 10th place
Men's 10.000 metres
Jean-Louis Prianon
First Round — 28:08.38
Final — 27:36.43 (→ 4th place)
Paul Arpin
First Round — 28:25.56
Final — 27:39.36 (→ 7th place)
Men's 3.000m Steeplechase
Raymond Pannier
Heat — 8:30.94
Semi Final — 8:19.39
Final — 8:23.80 (→ 12th place)
Bruno Le Stum
Heat — 8:36.95
Semi Final — 8:26.69 (→ did not advance)
Men's Javelin Throw
Charlus Bertimon
Qualification — 70.84m (→ did not advance)
Stéphane Laporte
Qualification — 69.40m (→ did not advance)
Pascal Lefèvre
Qualification — 76.42m (→ did not advance)
Men's Discus Throw
Patrick Journoud
Qualifying Heat — 58.94m (→ did not advance)
Men's Long Jump
Norbert Brige
Qualification — 8.05m
Final — 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 Fesselier
Final — 1:22:43 (→ 16th place)
Thierry Toutain
Final — 1:22:55 (→ 18th place)
Men's 50 km Walk
Alain Lemercier
Final — 3'50:28 (→ 16th place)
Jean-Marie Neff
Final — DSQ (→ no ranking)
Eric Neisse
Final — DSQ (→ no ranking)
Women's 4 × 400 m Relay
Fabienne Ficher, Nathalie Simon, Evecyne Elien, and Nadine Debois
Heat — 3:29.95
Fabienne Ficher, Simon Fabienne, Debois Nathalie, and Elien Nadine
Final — 3:29.37 (→ 7th place)
Women's Marathon
Françoise Bonnet
Final — 2"32:36 (→ 14th place)
Maria Rebelo-Lelut
Final — 2"33:47 (→ 18th place)
Jocelyne Villeton
Final — 2"34:02 (→ 19th place)
Women's Javelin Throw
Nadine Auzeil
Qualification — no mark (→ did not advance)
Women's Heptathlon
Chantal Beaugeant
Final Result — 2315 points (→ 28th place)
Men's Flyweight (— 51 kg)
Philippe Desavoye
First Round — Bye
Second Round — Defeated Anthony Ikegu (KEN), RSC-2
Third Round — Lost to Melvin de Leon (DOM), 0:5
Men's Bantamweight (— 54 kg)
Jean-Marc Augustin
First Round — Lost to Byun Jong-Il (KOR), 0:5
Men's Light Welterweight (— 63.5 kg)
Ludovic Proto
First Round — Defeated Mpuco Makama (SUA), walk-over
Second Round — Defeated Mark Elliott (GBR), RSC-1
Third Round — Lost to Vyacheslav Yanovski (URS), 0:5
Men's Welterweight (— 67 kg)
Laurent Boudouani → Silver Medal
First Round — Bye
Second Round — Defeated Imre Bácskai (HUN), 4:1
Third Round — Defeated Darren Obah (AUS), 5:0
Quarterfinals — Defeated Song Kyung-Sup (KOR), 3:2
Semifinals — Defeated Kenneth Gould (USA), 4:1
Final — Lost to Robert Wangila (KEN), KO-2
Sixteen cyclists, twelve men and four women, represented France in 1988.
Men's road race
Jean-François Laffillé
Claude Carlin
Laurent Bezault
Men's team time trial
Laurent Bezault
Eric Heulot
Pascal Lance
Thierry Laurent
Men's sprint
Fabrice Colas
Men's 1 km time trial
Frédéric Magné
Men's team pursuit
Hervé Dagorné
Pascal Lino
Didier Pasgrimaud
Pascal Potié
Men's points race
Pascal Lino
Women's road race
Catherine Marsal
Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli
Cécile Odin
Women's sprint
Isabelle Gautheron
19 fencers, 14 men and 5 women, represented France in 1988.
Men's foil
Philippe Omnès
Laurent Bel
Patrick Groc
Men's team foil
Laurent Bel, Patrick Groc, Youssef Hocine, Patrice Lhotellier, Philippe Omnès
Men's épée
Philippe Riboud
Éric Srecki
Jean-Michel Henry
Men's team épée
Frédéric Delpla, Jean-Michel Henry, Olivier Lenglet, Philippe Riboud, Éric Srecki
Men's sabre
Jean-François Lamour
Philippe Delrieu
Pierre Guichot
Men's team sabre
Philippe Delrieu, Franck Ducheix, Pierre Guichot, Jean-François Lamour
Women's foil
Isabelle Spennato
Brigitte Latrille-Gaudin
Laurence Modaine-Cessac
Women's team foil
Brigitte Latrille-Gaudin, Gisèle Meygret, Laurence Modaine-Cessac, Nathalie Pallet, Isabelle Spennato
Three 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 Caron
Heat — 23.22
B-Final — scratched (→ no ranking)
Christophe Kalfayan
Heat — 23.47
B-Final — 23.15 (→ 13th place)
Men's 100 m Freestyle
Stéphan Caron
Heat — 49.37
Final — 49.62 (→ Bronze Medal)
Christophe Kalfayan
Heat — 51.05 (→ did not advance, 20th place)
Men's 200 m Freestyle
Stéphan Caron
Heat — 1:49.66
B-Final — scratched (→ no ranking)
Ludovic Depickère
Heat — 1:53.81 (→ did not advance, 35th place)
Men's 400 m Freestyle
Franck Iacono
Heat — 4:00.04 (→ did not advance, 30th place)
Men's 1500 m Freestyle
Christophe Marchand
Heat — 15:22.19 (→ did not advance, 12th place)
Franck Iacono
Heat — 15:22.66 (→ did not advance, 13th place)
Men's 100 m Backstroke
Franck Schott
Heat — 56.76
B-Final — 56.98 (→ 10th place)
Renaud Boucher
Heat — 58.90 (→ did not advance, 31st place)
Men's 200 m Backstroke
David Holderbach
Heat — 2:04.83 (→ did not advance, 21st place)
Men's 100 m Breaststroke
David Leblanc
Heat — 1:04.56 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)
Cédric Penicaud
Heat — 1:05.46 (→ did not advance, 36th place)
Men's 200 m Breaststroke
Cédric Penicaud
Heat — 2:18.72
B-Final — 2:18.95 (→ 16th place)
David Leblanc
Heat — DSQ (→ did not advance, no ranking)
Men's 100 m Butterfly
Ludovic Depickère
Heat — 56.47 (→ did not advance, 27th place)
Men's 200 m Butterfly
Christophe Bordeau
Heat — 2:01.70
B-Final — 2:01.46 (→ 13th place)
Men's 200 m Individual Medley
Christophe Bordeau
Heat — 2:04.95
B-Final — 2:05.51 (→ 12th place)
Men's 400 m Individual Medley
Christophe Bordeau
Heat — 4:23.46
B-Final — 4:23.39 (→ 10th place)
Laurent Journet
Heat — 4:29.03 (→ did not advance, 18th place)
Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Stéphan Caron, Christophe Kalfayan, Laurent Neuville, and Bruno Gutzeit
Heat — 3:21.77
Final — 3:20.02 (→ 4th place)
Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Stéphan Caron, Michel Pou, Olivier Fougeroud, and Laurent Neuville
Heat — 7:23.03
Michel Pou, Franck Iacono, Olivier Fougeroud, and Ludovic Depickère
Final — 7:24.69 (→ 7th place)
Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Franck Schott, David Leblanc, Ludovic Depickère, and Bruno Gutzeit
Heat — 3:48.64 (→ did not advance, 10th place)
Women's 50 m Freestyle
Catherine Plewinski
Heat — 26.01
Final — 25.90 (→ 7th place)
Women's 100 m Freestyle
Catherine Plewinski
Heat — 55.53
Final — 55.49 (→ Bronze Medal)
Jacqueline Délord
Heat — 58.22 (→ did not advance, 29th place)
Women's 200 m Freestyle
Cécile Prunier
Heat — 2:01.60
Final — 2:02.88 (→ 8th place)
Women's 400 m Freestyle
Cécile Prunier
Heat — 4:15.63
B-Final — 4:21.03 (→ 16th place)
Women's 800 m Freestyle
Karyn Faure
Heat — 8:41.64 (→ did not advance, 13th place)
Cécile Prunier
Heat — 8:57.22 (→ did not advance, 24th place)
Women's 100 m Backstroke
Laurence Guillou
Heat — 1:05.07 (→ did not advance, 20th place)
Women's 200 m Backstroke
Christine Magnier
Heat — 2:24.15 (→ did not advance, 25th place)
Women's 100 m Breaststroke
Pascaline Louvrier
Heat — 1:13.21 (→ did not advance, 24th place)
Virginie Bojaryn
Heat — 1:13.55 (→ did not advance, 26th place)
Women's 200 m Breaststroke
Virginie Bojaryn
Heat — 2:37.38 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)
Pascaline Louvrier
Heat — 2:38.75 (→ did not advance, 26th place)
Women's 100 m Butterfly
Catherine Plewinski
Heat — 59.34
Final — 59.58 (→ 4th place)
Jacqueline Délord
Heat — 1:02.24
B-Final — 1:02.45 (→ 11th place)
Women's 200 m Butterfly
Claire Supiot
Heat — 2:21.65 (→ did not advance, 25th place)
Women's 400 m Individual Medley
Christine Magnier
Heat — 4:51.91
Final — 4:53.29 (→ 14th place)
Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Laurence Guillou, Pascaline Louvrier, Catherine Plewinski, and Jacqueline Délord
Heat — 4:16.21 (→ did not advance, 10th place)
Three synchronized swimmers represented France in 1988.
Women's solo
Muriel Hermine
Anne Capron
Karine Schuler
Women's duet
Anne Capron
Karine Schuler
Women's Singles Competition
Catherine Suire
First Round — Defeated Yayuk Basuki (Indonesia) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
Second Round — Defeated Jeong-Myung Lee (South Korea) 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
Third Round — Lost to Steffi Graf (West Germany) 3-6, 0-6
Isabelle Demongeot
First Round — Lost to Jana Novotná (Czechoslovakia) 4-6, 3-6
Nathalie Tauziat
First Round — Defeated Carling Bassett-Seguso (Canada) 7-6, 6-1
Second Round — Lost to Catarina Lindqvist (Sweden) 6-2, 3-6, 4-6
Preliminary 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 Matches
5th/8th place: Lost to Bulgaria (0-3)
7th/8th place: Lost to Sweden (2-3) → 8th place
Team Roster
Philippe Blain
Jean-Baptiste Martzluff
Herve Mazzon
Eric N'Gapeth
Eric Bouvier
Christophe Meneau
Jean-Marc Jurkovitz
Laurent Tillie
Olivier Rossard
Patrick Duflos
Alain Fabiani
Philippe Salvan
Head Coach: Eric Daniel
Men'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 place
Team Roster
Arnaud Bouet
Marc Brisfer
Marc Crousillat
Pierre Garsau
Bruno Boyadjian
Philippe Herve
Michel Idoux
Thierry Alimondo
Michel Crousillat
Nicolas Marischael
Nicolas Jeleff
Pascal Perot
Christian Volpi
Head Coach: Jean Paul Clemencon
First-heavyweight 90–100 kg
Francis Tournefier — 5th place, 385.0 kg (170.0 kg/ 215.0 kg)
