France in the International Olympic Sports: Features, Indicators and Performance Results at the Summer and Winter Olympics

The aim of this study is a comprehensive analysis of the development features of the Olympic Movement in France and the results of French athletes' performance at the Summer (1896-2016) and Winter (1924-2018) Olympics. The following research methods have been used: the study and systematisation of the sources, analytical methods (contrast, comparison, etc.), inductive and deductive methods. The present research was conducted in the framework of the study of the development features of the sport and Olympic movement in the countries and regions of the world. The results of the study will be included in the appropriate section of such disciplines as the History of Physical Education, Countries of the World in International Sport, and others. As a result of the analysis and systematisation of the sources, Figures 1 to 4 have been created, with numbers of French participants at the Summer (1896 and on) and Winter (1924 and on) Olympics. The largest number of participants from France in the Summer Olympics (732 people, including 721 men and 11 women) took part in the Games of the II Olympiad of 1900 in Paris. This was an absolute record, which is almost twice larger than the one at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, both in the total number of participants and in the number of male participants. The largest number of French participants took part in the Winter Olympic Games of 2002 (116 people, including 88 men and 28 women). The significant increase in the number of French athletes is objectively observed at the country's home Games. In order to reach the aim of the research, Table 1 has been created, which shows the main performance indicators and results of French participants in the Summer and Winter Olympics: sports, disciplines and the number of medals. Table 1 and Figure 5 show the rating of the French team by the number of medals won at the Summer and Winter Olympics in the period under study. According to the authors, the overall dynamics of the performance results in general indicates the stability of French athletes' performance at the Games of the Olympiad. Along with the Games of 1900, the results of the Games of 1920, 1924, 1948, 1984, 1992-2016 can also be considered as successful, which proves the high level of sports competitiveness of French athletes. According to the results of the Games of the Olympiad, the French national team was among the top ten countries by the number of won medals twenty one times and failed to be among the fifteen best teams only three times. The results of the Olympic Winter Games indicate that France entered the top ten strongest countries at eleven Games out of twenty three and failed to win any Olympic awards only once.

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