Jeannie Longo

Jeannie Longo is a French racing cyclist, 59time French champion and 13time world champion. Longo is still active in cycling as of 2011 and is widely considered one of the greatest female cyclists of all time. She is famous for her competitive nature and her longevity in a sport where some of her competitors were not yet born during her first Olympic competition in 1984. She was selected to compete for France in the 2008 Olympics, her seventh Olympic Games. She had stated that this would be her final participation in the Olympics. In the Womens road race, she finished 24th,seconds behind winner Nicole Cooke, who was one year old when Longo first rode in the Olympics. At the same Olympics, she finished 4th in the road time trial, just two seconds shy of securing a bronze medal. She is currently number two on the alltime list of French female summer or winter Olympic medal winners, with a total of four medals, which is one less than the total number won by the fencer Laura FlesselCo

Longo was born in Annecy, HauteSavoie, in the French Alps where she began her athletic career as a downhill skier. After winning the French schools ski championship and three university skiing championships, she switched to cycling at the urging of her coach Patrice Ciprelli. Within a few months, Longo won the French road race Championship at the age of 21. She competed both in road and track bicycle racing events, and is an Olympic goldmedalist and thirteentime world champion.

Source: Wikipedia