The Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics: Team France Hopefuls

Only 58 days until the start of the 2026 Olympics.

France And The Winter Olympics

Since their first appearance in 1924, French athletes have won a total of 138 medals at the Winter Olympics, with 41 gold, 42 silver, and 55 bronze medals, putting the country at 13th in overall medal rankings since 1924. Their most successful sports are Alpine skiing, with 51 medals (16 gold), and biathlon, with 32 medals (12 gold). France hosted the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix (1924) and hosted the games in Grenoble (1968) and Albertville (1992).

Martin Fourcade is currently the most successful French Winter Olympian of all time. He is a six-time Olympic champion in various Biathlon events, including winning six gold medals and one silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games from 2010 to 2018.

Besides Fourcade, France’s greatest winter sports hero has otherwise been Alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy who won all three available gold medals at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games.

Below are several 2026 French Olympic hopefuls.

Figure Skaters Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron

Guillaume Cizeron is a French pairs ice dancer. Cizeron won Olympic gold at Beijing 2022, silver in 2018 and five world titles with longtime partner Gabriella Papadakis while Fournier Beaudry was an eight-time Grand Prix medallist alongside Nikolaj Sørensen. The new duo paired up in January 2025. “It was a bit of a leap of faith into the void,” Cizeron added of their partnering. Well it paid off. The pair just won the Grand Prix de France October 19th with the fourth highest-ever score.

Biathlon Quentin Fillon Maillet

Fillon Maillet won two golds in Beijing in 2022 in the 20km individual and the 12.5km pursuit title. He also won silver medals in the 10km sprint, mixed 4x6km mixed relay and men’s 4×7.5 km relay. He was the first biathlete to win five medals at the same Games and the first man to do so in any winter sport since speed skater Eric Heiden at Lake Placid in 1980. “It’s incredible, I never expected it,” he said afterwards. He has secured a place in the French team and is a leading candidate to win medals at the upcoming Games.

Skier Clement Noel

Noel competed in both the 2018 Pyeongchang and 2022 Beijing Games, winning a gold in the slalom in 2022. The 2026 Olympics will be the first to hold a Team combined event where two skiers compete in the downhill and a slalom. However, in the Team Combined, one competitor races the speed discipline and the other the slalom. Each participating nation can field up to four teams, with two athletes per team of the same gender. Noel could team up with World Cup winners Nils Allegre or Cyprien Sarrazin once he recovers from injury.

Freestyle Skier Perrine Laffont

Perrine Laffont, 2018 Olympic gold medalist in the moguls event and five-time World Cup overall moguls champion, is returning back to form after a year break to focus on her mental and physical health. She is currently ranked second in the world behind Jaelin Kauf of the US in the mogul and dual mogul events. And she is excited about a new event in 2026: Dual Moguls.

Dual moguls is a freestyle skiing event where two athletes compete side by side on a bumpy course featuring two jumps, where they perform aerial tricks. The course is divided into two lanes and measures between 200 and 270 meters. Unlike traditional moguls, which are run individually without a direct opponent, dual moguls pit two competitors against each other simultaneously.

Biathlete Julia Simon

French biathlete Julia Simon has been handed a six-month competition ban by the French Ski Federation (FFS), but the 29-year-old will be able to compete in next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, the sports body said on Thursday.

Simon, who won the overall World Cup title in 2023 and holds 10 world championship gold medals, was also fined 30,000 euros ($34,986.00) by the FFS National Disciplinary Committee.

Freestyle Skier Tess Ledeux

She has earned four gold medals at the Winter X Games: three in big air and one in slopestyle. At the 2022 X Games, she won two gold medals, in slopestyle and big air becoming the first woman to land a double cork 1620 in competition.

Ledeux also represented France at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, winning a silver medal in the women’s big air.

Milano-Cortina 2026

France should again have a competitive team for the 2026 Winter Olympics with a focus upon Alpine Skiing and Biathlon events. France’s medal count and ranking were slightly higher in 2018, primarily due to biathlete Martin Fourcade’s multi-medal performance. A feat that will likely not be duplicated in 2026. Alternatively, the first-time inclusion of ski mountaineering, a sport where France has strong contenders, could offer the country a new advantage in 2026.