Félicia Ballanger
Encyclopedia
Félicia Ballanger was a French
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 (5.5 ft) tall and weighs 70 kilograms (154.3 lb).
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 2001, she became vice-president of the Fédération Française de Cyclisme
.
since 1998. She is involved in politics there. She was a television commentator during the Olympic Games in Beijing
in 2008.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
racing cyclist.
She won five world championships
UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling and are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale...
in the sprint and 500 m time trial. She was also a triple Olympic champion. She is 1.68 metres (5.5 ft) tall and weighs 70 kilograms (154.3 lb).
Biography
Félicia Ballanger is one of two children. Her mother named her Félicia after the Italian Tour de FranceTour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
winner Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi is an Italian former professional racing cyclist.With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France , Giro...
and her brother, Frédéric, after the Spanish winner, Federico Bahamontes
Federico Bahamontes
Federico Martín Bahamontes is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist.-Biography:Bahamontes was born in Santo Domingo-Caudilla , of Cuban descent. His family was devastated during the Spanish civil war and Bahamontes' father, Julián, took the family to Madrid as refugees...
).
Ballanger was at first both a cyclist and a handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
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
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. She crashed the following year, breaking a collarbone and having her thigh pierced by a splinter from the velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
.
Her first world championship medal came the following season. She took silver in the sprint. Trained by Daniel Morelon
Daniel Morelon
Daniel Morelon is a French former racing cyclist, eight times world champion and triple Olympic champion and a knight of the Legion d'Honneur. Morelon was a police officer before becoming a cycling coach....
, 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
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. She won the 500 metres. In 2001, she became vice-president of the Fédération Française de Cyclisme
Fédération Française de Cyclisme
The French Cycling Federation or FFC is the national governing body of cycle racing in France.The FFC is a member of the UCI and the UEC...
.
Personal life
Ballanger is married, has two children and has lived in NouméaNouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
since 1998. She is involved in politics there. She was a television commentator during the Olympic Games in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in 2008.
Olympic Games
-
1996 1st sprint - 2000 1st sprint, 1st 500m
World championship
- 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 1st sprint
- 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 1st 500m
-
1994 2nd sprint - 1988 1st junior sprint
World records
- 500m 35"811 3 July 1993 HyèresHyèresHyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
- 500m 35"190 28 July1993 BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
- 500m 34"604 3 July 1994 HyèresHyèresHyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
- 500m 34"474 22 July 1994 Colorado Springs
- 500m 34"017 29 September BogotaBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
- 500m 34"010 29 August1998 BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...