France participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, and has taken part in every edition of the Summer and Winter Paralympics since then. France was the host country of the 1992 Winter Paralympics and the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
French athletes have won a total of 1,263 medals at the Paralympic Games, of which 416 is gold, placing France fourth on the all-time Paralympic Games medal table.
Among its most successful competitors is swimmer Béatrice Hess, winner of 20 gold medals.
Medal tables
Red border color indicates host nation status.
Medals by Summer Games GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotalRank by Gold medalsRank by Total medals 1960 Rome 3 3 1 7 9 9 1964 Tokyo 4 2 5 11 11 12 1968 Tel-Aviv 13 10 9 32 5 8 1972 Heidelberg 10 8 15 33 7 7 1976 Toronto 23 21 14 58 8 8 1980 Arnhem 28 26 31 85 8 8 71 69 46 186 6 6 1988 Seoul 46 44 50 140 5 5 1992 Barcelona-Madrid 36 36 34 106 6 6 1996 Atlanta 35 29 31 95 6 6 2000 Sydney 30 28 28 86 7 7 2004 Athens 18 26 30 74 9 6 2008 Beijing 12 21 19 52 12 9 2012 London 8 19 18 45 16 8 2016 Rio de Janeiro 9 5 14 28 12 15 2020 Tokyo 11 15 28 54 14 10 2024 Paris 19 28 28 75 8 6 2028 Los Angeles Future event 2032 Brisbane Future event Total 376 390 401 1167 6 5
Medals by Winter Games GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotalRank by Gold medalsRank by Total medals 1976 Örnsköldsvik 2 0 3 5 8 7 1980 Geilo 1 1 1 3 9 9 1984 Innsbruck 4 2 0 6 8 11 1988 Innsbruck 5 5 3 13 7 8 1992 Tignes-Albertville 6 4 9 19 6 5 1994 Lillehammer 14 6 11 31 4 5 1998 Nagano 5 9 8 22 10 8 2002 Salt Lake City 2 11 6 19 13 5 2006 Turin 7 2 6 15 4 4 2010 Vancouver 1 4 1 6 10 12 2014 Sochi 5 3 4 12 6 7 2018 Pyeongchang 7 8 5 20 4 5 2022 Beijing 7 3 2 12 4 7 2026 Milan-Cortina 4 4 4 12 6 7 2030 French Alps Future event Total 72 66 65 203 7 9
Medals by summer sport
Medals by winter sport
Best results in non-medaling sports: Summer Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year Goalball 7th France men's team Men's tournament in 2024 Wheelchair rugby 5th France mixed team Mixed tournament in 2024 Winter Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year Para ice hockey did not participate Wheelchair curling did not participate
Multi-medalists Summer Paralympics Multiple medalists This is a list of French athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five medals. No. Athlete Sport Years Games Gender GoldSilverBronzeTotal1Béatrice Hess1984 - 20046F2050252Assia El Hannouni2004 - 20123F820103Pascal Pinard1992 - 20044M756184Claude Issorat1992 - 20044M742135Mustapha Badid1984 - 19964M61186Robert Citerne1988 - 20047M4239
Multi medals in a single Games This is a list of French athletes who have won at least two gold medals in a single Games. Ordered categorically by gold medals earned, sports then year. No. Athlete Sport Year Gender GoldSilverBronzeTotal1Pascal Pinard1992M51282Assia El Hannouni2004F40043Mustapha Badid1988M41054Claude Issorat1996M3014
Multi medals in a single event This is a list of French athletes who have won at least two gold medals in a single event at the Summer Paralympics. Ordered categorically by medals earned, sports then gold medals earned. No. Athlete Sport Event Years Games Gender GoldSilverBronzeTotal1Robert CiterneTeam épée1988-20047M32052Charles Tolle relay1996-20002M2002
Most appearances This is a list of French athletes who have competed in four or more Summer Paralympic Games. Active athletes are in bold. Athletes who were under 15 years of age or over 40 years of age are in bold. No. Athlete Sport Birth Year Games Years First/Last Age Gender GoldSilverBronzeTotal1Robert Citerne19611988 - 2004 (7)27 - 43M42392Béatrice Hess19611984 - 2004 (6)22 - 42F2050253Vincent Boury19691996 - 2012 (5)30 - 43M1214Pierre Fairbank19712000 - 2016 (5)29 - 45M1247Thu Kamkasomphou19672000 - 2016 (5)33 - 49F2248
Winter Paralympics
See also France at the Olympics
References