Félicia Ballanger

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Félicia Ballanger


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Félicia Ballanger (born La Roche-sur-Yon, France; 12 June, 1971) was a French racing cyclist.

She won five world championships in the sprint and 500m time trial. She was also a triple Olympic champion. She is 1m 68 tall and weighs 70 kg.

Biography

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. [http://www.humanite.fr/2000-08-19_Sports_-Felicia-Ballanger-championne-discrete] ] .

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 500m time-trial and the sprint. She won both again in the four following years. She also won the Olympic sprint medal atAtlanta.

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.

Personal life

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

Palmarès

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

National championships

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

= World records [http://www.uci.ch/data_UCI/track/palmares/records/world_F.htm Progression du record du monde du 500 mètres sur le site de l'UCI] ] =

* 500m 35"811 3 July 1993 Hyères
* 500m 35"190 28 July1993 Bordeaux
* 500m 34"604 3 July 1994 Hyères
* 500m 34"474 22 July 1994 Colorado Springs
* 500m 34"017 29 September Bogota
* 500m 34"010 29 August1998 Bordeaux

References

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BALLAFEL01 databaseOlympics profile]

External links

*cyclingwebsite|27952