The Most Famous

GYMNASTS from France

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This page contains a list of the greatest French Gymnasts. The pantheon dataset contains 370 Gymnasts, 4 of which were born in France. This makes France the birth place of the 16th most number of Gymnasts behind Belarus, and Netherlands.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary French Gymnasts of all time. This list of famous French Gymnasts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of French Gymnasts.

Photo of Gustave Sandras

1. Gustave Sandras (1872 - 1951)

With an HPI of 51.47, Gustave Sandras is the most famous French Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

Silvaine Gustave Sandras (24 February 1872 – 21 June 1951) was a French gymnast who competed in the early 20th century. He participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, and won the equivalent (see 1900 Summer Olympics) of a gold medal in the only gymnastic event to take place at the games, the combined exercises (see Gymnastics at the 1900 Summer Olympics).

Photo of Noël Bas

2. Noël Bas (1877 - 1960)

With an HPI of 50.00, Noël Bas is the 2nd most famous French Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

François "Noël" Bas (25 December 1877 –3 July 1960) was a French gymnast who competed in the early 20th century. He participated in Gymnastics at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the silver medal in the only gymnastic event to take place at the games, the combined exercises. Gustave Sandras won gold.

Photo of Lucien Démanet

3. Lucien Démanet (1874 - 1943)

With an HPI of 49.67, Lucien Démanet is the 3rd most famous French Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Georges Lucien Démanet (6 December 1874 – 20 June 1943) was a French gymnast who competed at the turn of the 20th century. He participated in Gymnastics at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the bronze medal with a total score of 293 points in the only gymnastic event to take place at the games, the combined exercises. Gustave Sandras won gold with a score of 302 points and Noel Bas won silver. Additionally, he competed at the 1905 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where he was a part of the championship-winning team, also taking individual bronze medals in the all-around combined exercises and horizontal bar apparatus.

Photo of Émilie Le Pennec

4. Émilie Le Pennec (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 26.62, Émilie Le Pennec is the 4th most famous French Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Émilie Le Pennec (born 31 December 1987) is a French retired artistic gymnast. Le Pennec was the 2004 Olympic Champion on the uneven bars and was the first, and to date the only, female French gymnast to win an Olympic medal in women's artistic gymnastics.

Photo of Coline Devillard

5. Coline Devillard (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Coline Devillard is the 5th most famous French Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Coline Devillard (born 9 October 2000) is a French artistic gymnast. Devillard is the 2022 World bronze medalist, the 2017, 2023, 2024 European champion and the 2019 European silver medalist on vault. She is the first and only French female gymnast to win the European title on vault. Additionally she was part of the French teams that won silver at the 2018 European Championships and bronze at the 2023 World Championships. She competed in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Samir Aït Saïd

6. Samir Aït Saïd (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 0.00, Samir Aït Saïd is the 6th most famous French Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Samir Aït Saïd (born 1 November 1989) is a French artistic gymnast. He is the 2019 World bronze medalist and the 2013 European champion on the still rings. He is also a three-time European silver medalist and a two-time European bronze medalist. He represented France at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2020 Summer Olympics, and the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was one of France's flagbearers at the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Photo of Carolann Héduit

7. Carolann Héduit (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 0.00, Carolann Héduit is the 7th most famous French Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Carolann Héduit (born 2 December 2003) is a retired French artistic gymnast. She is the 2022 European Championships bronze medalist on the balance beam. She is the 2021 and 2022 French all-around champion and represented France at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Aline Friess

8. Aline Friess (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 0.00, Aline Friess is the 8th most famous French Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Aline Friess (born 5 July 2003) is a French artistic gymnast. She competed with the French teams at the 2019 World Championships, the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2022 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she won bronze on vault.

Photo of Loris Frasca

9. Loris Frasca (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Loris Frasca is the 9th most famous French Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Loris Frasca (born 3 July 1995) is a French artistic gymnast. He competed at both the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He qualified to represent France at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. In 2018, he won the gold medal in the men's vault event at the Mediterranean Games held in Tarragona, Spain. He also won the bronze medal in the men's artistic team all-around event. In 2019, he represented France at the European Games in Minsk, Belarus.

Photo of Kaylia Nemour

10. Kaylia Nemour (b. 2006)

With an HPI of 0.00, Kaylia Nemour is the 10th most famous French Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Kaylia Nemour (Arabic: كيليا نمور, romanized: Kailiya Numur; born 30 December 2006) is an Algerian artistic gymnast. She currently represents Algeria internationally. She is the 2024 Olympic champion on the uneven bars and the first gymnast from any African nation to win an Olympic medal. At the 2023 World Championships, she became the first African gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships, winning silver on the uneven bars. She is the 2023 African all-around champion.

People

Pantheon has 12 people classified as French gymnasts born between 1872 and 2006. Of these 12, 9 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living French gymnasts include Émilie Le Pennec, Coline Devillard, and Samir Aït Saïd. The most famous deceased French gymnasts include Gustave Sandras, Noël Bas, and Lucien Démanet. As of April 2024, 8 new French gymnasts have been added to Pantheon including Coline Devillard, Samir Aït Saïd, and Carolann Héduit.

Living French Gymnasts

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Deceased French Gymnasts

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Newly Added French Gymnasts (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Gymnasts were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Gymnasts since 1700.