# France at the 1988 Summer Olympics

France competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 266 competitors, 192 men and 74 women, took part in 167 events in 23 sports.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Jean-François Lamour | Fencing | Men's sabre | 23 September |
| Gold | Thierry Péponnet Luc Pillot | Sailing | Men's 470 | 27 September |
| Gold | Nicolas Hénard Jean-Yves Le Déroff | Sailing | Tornado | 27 September |
| Gold | Marc Alexandre | Judo | Men's 71 kg | 27 September |
| Gold | Frédéric Delpla Jean-Michel Henry Olivier Lenglet Philippe Riboud Éric Srecki | Fencing | Men's team épée | 30 September |
| Gold | Pierre Durand | Equestrian | Individual jumping | 2 October |
| Silver | Nicolas Berthelot | Shooting | Men's 10 metre air rifle | 20 September |
| Silver | Philippe Riboud | Fencing | Men's épée | 24 September |
| Silver | Margit Otto-Crépin | Equestrian | Individual dressage | 27 September |
| Silver | Laurent Boudouani | Boxing | Welterweight | 1 October |
| Bronze | Catherine Plewinski | Swimming | Women's 100 metre freestyle | 19 September |
| Bronze | Stéphan Caron | Swimming | Men's 100 metre freestyle | 22 September |
| Bronze | Bruno Carabetta | Judo | Men's 65 kg | 26 September |
| Bronze | Hubert Bourdy Frédéric Cottier Pierre Durand Michel Robert | Equestrian | Team jumping | 28 September |
| Bronze | Joël Bettin Philippe Renaud | Canoeing | Men's C-2 500 metres | 30 September |
| Bronze | Bruno Marie-Rose Max Morinière Gilles Quénéhervé Daniel Sangouma | Athletics | Men's 4 × 100 metres relay | 1 October |

## Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Archery | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Athletics | 33 | 22 | 55 |
| Boxing | 4 | – | 4 |
| Canoeing | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Cycling | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Diving | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Equestrian | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Fencing | 14 | 5 | 19 |
| Gymnastics | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Judo | 7 | – | 7 |
| Modern pentathlon | 3 | – | 3 |
| Rowing | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| Sailing | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Shooting | 12 | 7 | 19 |
| Swimming | 16 | 9 | 25 |
| Synchronized swimming | – | 3 | 3 |
| Table tennis | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tennis | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Volleyball | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Water polo | 13 | – | 13 |
| Weightlifting | 4 | – | 4 |
| Wrestling | 9 | – | 9 |
| Total | 192 | 74 | 266 |

## Archery

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
* Marie-Josée 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

## Athletics

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)

## Boxing

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

## Cycling

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

## Fencing

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

## Modern pentathlon

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)

## Swimming

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)

## Synchronized swimming

Three synchronized swimmers represented France in 1988.

### Women's solo

* Muriel Hermine
* Anne Capron
* Karine Schuler

### Women's duet

* Anne Capron
* Karine Schuler

## Tennis

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

## Volleyball
### Men's team competition

* 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

## Water polo

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

## Weightlifting

First-heavyweight 90–100 kg
* Francis Tournefier — 5th place, 385.0 kg (170.0 kg/ 215.0 kg)