France at the 1896 Summer Olympics

France at the 1896 Summer Olympics
IOC code	FRA
NOC	French National Olympic and Sports Committee
Website	www.franceolympique.com (French)
in Athens
Competitors	13 in 6 sports
Medals Ranked 4th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 5 4 2 11
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Thirteen athletes from France competed in six sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. France won the fourth-most gold medals with 5 and the fourth-most total medals with 11. Cycling was the sport in which the French competitors had the most success, as they completely dominated the field. The French team had 27 entries in 18 events, winning 11 medals.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Masson, PaulPaul Masson	Cycling	Men's 10 km	April 11
			Men's time trial	April 11
			Men's sprint	April 11
Gold	Flameng, LéonLéon Flameng	Cycling	Men's 100 km	April 8
Gold	Gravelotte, Eugène-HenriEugène-Henri Gravelotte	Fencing	Men's foil	April 7
Silver	Tuffère, AlexandreAlexandre Tuffère	Athletics	Men's triple jump	April 6
Silver	Flameng, LéonLéon Flameng	Cycling	Men's 10 km	April 11
Silver	Callot, HenriHenri Callot	Fencing	Men's foil	April 7
Silver	Perronet, JoanniJoanni Perronet	Fencing	Men's masters foil	April 7
Bronze	Lermusiaux, AlbinAlbin Lermusiaux	Athletics	Men's 1500 m	April 7
Bronze	Flameng, LéonLéon Flameng	Cycling	Men's sprint	April 11

Results by event

Athletics

France's six athletes won two medals in athletics.

Event	Place	Athlete	Heat	Final
100 metres	–	Alphonse Grisel	Unknown	Did not advance
400 metres	–	Alphonse Grisel	Unknown	Did not advance
		Frantz Reichel	Unknown
800 metres	–	Albin Lermusiaux	2:16.6	Did not start
	–	Georges de la Nézière	Unknown	Did not advance
1500 metres	3rd	Albin Lermusiaux	No heats	4:37.0
110 metre hurdles	–	Frantz Reichel	Unknown	Did not start
Marathon	9th	Sokratis Lagoudakis	No heats	Unknown
	–	Albin Lermusaiux		Did not finish

Event	Place	Athlete	Best mark
Long jump	–	Alphonse Grisel	Unknown
		Alexandre Tuffère	Unknown
Triple jump	2nd	Alexandre Tuffère	12.70 metres
Discus throw	–	Alphonse Grisel	Unknown

Cycling

Leon Flameng and Paul Masson

France dominated the cycling events, taking 4 of the 6 gold medals. Three were won by Paul Masson who won every event he entered, with Léon Flameng adding the fourth as well as a silver and a bronze. One of the two won each event that a Frenchman contested; the two gold medals won by other countries were in competitions that Masson and Flameng did not enter.

Event	Place	Cyclist	Time/Distance
333 metres	1st	Paul Masson	24.0 seconds
	5th	Léon Flameng	27.0 seconds
Sprint	1st	Paul Masson	4:58.2
	3rd	Léon Flameng	Unknown
10 kilometres	1st	Paul Masson	17:54.2
	2nd	Léon Flameng	17:54.8
100 kilometres	1st	Léon Flameng	3:08:19.2

Fencing

Group of French and Greek fencers at 1896 Summer Olympics

The final sword match 1896 Summer Olympics

The French fencers were held in high regard prior to the Games; Gravelotte and Callot validated those expectations in the amateur foil competition. Each went undefeated in their pool, advancing to face each other in the final. Gravelotte won the first-to-3 bout. Surprisingly, however, Perronet lost to the Greek Leonidas Pyrgos in the only match of the masters competition.

Event	Place	Fencer	Record		Touches		Round-robin	Final
			Wins	Losses	For	Against
Foil	1st	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte	4	0	12	7	1st Group B	Won 3-2
	2nd	Henri Callot	3	1	11	7	1st Group A	Lost 3-2
	5th	Henri Delaborde	1	2	5	8	3rd Group A	Did not advance
Masters foil	2nd	Joanni Perronet	0	1	1	3	None held	Lost 3-1

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Greece	6	2	.750
Total international	6	2	.750
France	2	2	.500
Total	8	4	.667

Gymnastics

Grisel competed in the parallel bars in the gymnastics program. The competitions had no formal scoring, the judges merely selecting the winner and runner-up. Grisel was neither in his competition.

Event	Place	Gymnast
Parallel bars	–	Alphonse Grisel

Shooting

Lermusiaux entered the military rifle event in the shooting program. His score and placing are unknown.

Event	Place	Shooter	Score	Hits
Military rifle	–	Albin Lermusiaux	Unknown

Tennis

Only the last name of the French tennis player in 1896 is known. He was defeated in the first round of the singles tournament.

Event	Place	Player(s)	Round 1	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Singles	8th	Defert	Lost	Did not advance

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Greece	0	1	.000
Total	0	1	.000

References

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at )
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at )
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.