You Are Here > > > > > Women's Sprint

Cycling at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games:

Women's Sprint

Cycling at the 1996 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games

Events:

Host City: Atlanta, United States
Venue(s): Stone Mountain Velodrome, Stone Mountain, Georgia
Date Started: July 24, 1996
Date Finished: July 27, 1996
Format: 1,000 metres.

Gold: FRA Félicia Ballanger
Silver: AUS Michelle Ferris
Bronze: NED Ingrid Haringa

Summary

The favorite was the 1995 World Champion, France’s [Félicia Ballanger]. Ballanger finished second in qualifying, which was surprisingly won by Australia’s [Michelle Ferris]. In the quarter-finals, Ballanger faced the 1988 and 1992 gold medalist, [Erika Salumäe] of Estonia, who had only made the quarters by advancing via the repêchage. Ballanger would defeat her in two straight races, and would not lose a race en route to the gold medal. In the final she defeated Ferris, who had advanced by defeating the 1992 bronze medalist, [Ingrid Haringa] (NED), in the semis. Haringa repeated as bronze medalist, defeating the 1992 silver medalist, Germany’s [Annett Neumann]. Over the next few years, Ballanger would establish herself as the top female sprinter in the world, winning the World Championships in 1996-1999 and defending her gold medal at Sydney in 2000.

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal
1 Félicia Ballanger 25 France FRA Gold
2 Michelle Ferris 19 Australia AUS Silver
3 Ingrid Haringa 32 Netherlands NED Bronze
4 Annett Neumann 26 Germany GER
5 Oksana Grishina 27 Russia RUS
6 Erika Salumäe 34 Estonia EST
7 Wang Yan 21 China CHN
8 Tanya Dubnicoff 26 Canada CAN
2 h1 r2/5 Connie Paraskevin-Young 35 United States USA
2 h2 r2/5 Daniela Larreal 23 Venezuela VEN
3 h1 r2/5 Donna Wynd 34 New Zealand NZL
3 h2 r2/5 Mira Kasslin 18 Finland FIN
13 QR Rita Razmaitė 29 Lithuania LTU
14 QR Nancy Contreras 18 Mexico MEX