Hugo Legrand overcame the challenge of South Korea's Ki-Chun Wang to win France's second judo bronze medal of the afternoon.
There was nothing to split the two competitors during the opening five minutes of this 73kg bout.
As a result, an extra three minutes of Golden Time was required to determine a winner.
With a little over one minute remaining, Legrand produced a waza-ari manoeuvre to win the contest and the medal.
Earlier in the day Legrand's compatriot Automne Pavia won a bronze medal for France in the women's event.
