Michelle Ferris
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| Born | 24 September 1976 Warrnambool, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Discipline | Track | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Michelle Ferris (24 September 1976) is an Australian cyclist. She won the Silver Medal in Women's sprint in 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics.[1][2][3][4][5]
Her biggest rival was Félicia Ballanger, who beat her in the World Championships as well as in the Olympics. In the World Cup in 1997, she did beat her, making her one of only a few cyclists who were able to beat Ballanger in a big tournament.
In summer 2020, Ferris took on a role as Assistant Mentor Coach to the cycling squad at the Western Sydney Academy of Sport.[6]
She is one of the few professional Australian athletes to come out publicly as gay, noting "Whenever I was interviewed after a race during my career, the journalists always asked me about my performance, no one ever asked if I was gay. If that question had been asked, I would have answered it honestly. I've never been afraid of who I am. But when you're talking about your race results, you're not going to add on at the end, 'By the way, I'm gay'."[7] She has served as an ambassador for the Gay Games and stated she "can't say why so many lesbian athletes stay silent. But she says that while it was no secret she was gay when she won her silver medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, she never spoke about it publicly at the time."[7]
Palmarès
Olympic Games
1996, 2000 2nd 500m
World Championship
- 1997, 1998, 1999 2nd sprint
- 1995, 1996, 1997 2nd 500m
Honours
- Added to the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame in 2018[8]
References
- ^ "Michelle Ferris". cycling archives. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ "Michelle Ferris Profile". www.sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ "Ferris, Michelle (1976–)". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. 1 January 2007. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ "French cyclists win third gold medal". AP Online. 27 August 1998. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ "Summer Pursuit Ends for Witty; Winter Medalist Is Fifth in 500 Meters". The Washington Post. 17 September 2000. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ "Ferris' Coaching Silver Lining". AusCycling. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ a b Brady, Nicole (23 October 2011). "Playing it straight". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ "Cycling Australia". cycling.org.au. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
