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Félicia Ballanger

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Félicia Ballanger
Personal information
Full nameFélicia Ballanger
Born (1971-06-12) 12 June 1971 (age 53)
La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, France
Medal record
Women's track cycling
Representing  France
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Sprint
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Sprint
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 500 m time trial
UCI Track World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Bogota Sprint
Gold medal – first place 1995 Bogota 500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place 1996 Manchester Sprint
Gold medal – first place 1996 Manchester 500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place 1997 Perth Sprint
Gold medal – first place 1997 Perth 500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bordeaux Sprint
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bordeaux 500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place 1999 Berlin Sprint
Gold medal – first place 1999 Berlin 500 m time trial
Silver medal – second place 1994 Palermo Sprint

Félicia Ballanger (born 12 June 1971 in La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée) is a retired French racing cyclist.

She won five world championships in the sprint and 500 m time trial. She was also a triple Olympic champion.[1] She is 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in) tall and weighs 70 kilograms (150 lb).

Biography

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Félicia Ballanger is one of two children. Her mother named her Félicia after the Italian Tour de France winner Felice Gimondi and her brother, Frédéric, after the Spanish winner, Federico Bahamontes).

Ballanger was at first both a cyclist and a handball player. For cycling she was a member of Vendée la Roche Cycliste.

She came fourth in her first world championship and again the following year, 1992, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. She crashed the following year, breaking a collarbone and having her thigh pierced by a splinter from the velodrome.[2]

Her first world championship medal came the following season. She took silver in the sprint. Trained by Daniel Morelon, the former world sprint champion, she won her first world championships in 1995, winning the 500 m time-trial and the sprint. She won both again in the four following years. She also won the Olympic sprint medal at Atlanta.

Her last international was the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. She won the 500 metres. In the same year she was awarded the Vélo d'Or français, and remained the only female awardee until 2022. In 2001, she became vice-president of the Fédération Française de Cyclisme.

Personal life

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Ballanger is married, has two children and has lived in Nouméa since 1998. She is involved in politics there. She was a television commentator during the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

Palmarès

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Olympic Games

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  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1996 1st sprint
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2000 1st sprint, 1st 500m

World championship

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  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 1st sprint
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 1st 500m
  • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1994 2nd sprint
  • 1988 1st junior sprint

National championships

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  • Sprint: 1992, 1994...
  • Youth sprint : 1986

World records

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Source:[3]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Félicia Ballanger". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Félicia Ballanger, championne discrète". L'Humanité (in French). 19 August 2000. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008.
  3. ^ "World Records: Women". UCI.ch. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008.
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