Michelle Ferris

Michelle Ferris

Personal information
Born	24 September 1976 Warrnambool, Australia
Team information
Discipline	Track
Medal record Representing  Australia 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
Infobox last updated on 20 August 2012

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]}

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'."^[6] 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."^[6]

References

1. "Michelle Ferris". cycling archives. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
2. "Michelle Ferris Profile". www.sports-reference.com. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
3. "Ferris, Michelle (1976–)". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. 1 January 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
4. "French cyclists win third gold medal". AP Online. 27 August 1998. Retrieved 20 August 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
5. "Summer Pursuit Ends for Witty; Winter Medalist Is Fifth in 500 Meters". The Washington Post. 17 September 2000. Retrieved 20 August 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
6. Brady, Nicole (23 October 2011). "Playing it straight". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2014.