Félicia Ballanger

Félicia Ballanger
Personal information
Full nameFélicia Ballanger
Born (1971-06-12) 12 June 1971 (age 55)
La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, France
Cycling career
SportCycling
Medal record
Women's track cycling
Representing  France
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1996 AtlantaSprint
Gold medal – first place2000 SydneySprint
Gold medal – first place2000 Sydney500 m time trial
UCI Track World Championships
Gold medal – first place1995 BogotaSprint
Gold medal – first place1995 Bogota500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place1996 ManchesterSprint
Gold medal – first place1996 Manchester500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place1997 PerthSprint
Gold medal – first place1997 Perth500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place1998 BordeauxSprint
Gold medal – first place1998 Bordeaux500 m time trial
Gold medal – first place1999 BerlinSprint
Gold medal – first place1999 Berlin500 m time trial
Silver medal – second place1994 PalermoSprint

Félicia Ballanger (born 12 June 1971) is a French retired racing cyclist.

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

Biography

Félicia Ballanger was born on 12 June 1971 in La Roche-sur-Yon. She 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.

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

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

Olympic Games

World championship

National championships

World records

Source:

References

  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.