Michelle Ferris

Michelle Ferris

Personal information
Born	(1976-09-24) 24 September 1976 (age 47) Warrnambool, Australia
Team information
Discipline	Track
Medal record Representing  Australia Women's track cycling Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Sprint 2000 Sydney Time trial UCI Track World Championships 1997 Perth 500 m time trial 1995 Bogota 500 m time trial 1996 Manchester 500 m time trial 1998 Bordeaux 500 m time trial Commonwealth Games 1994 Victoria BC Sprint 1998 Kuala Lumpur Sprint

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