Anne-Caroline Chausson facts for kids
Chausson at the 2001 Sea Otter Classic
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Anne-Caroline Chausson |
| Born | 8 October 1977 Dijon, France |
| Height | 1.73 m |
| Weight | 64 kg |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Team Commencal Vallnord |
| Discipline | Mountain bike BMX |
| Role | Racer/ Ambassador |
| Rider type | Off-road |
Anne-Caroline Chausson (born October 8, 1977) is a famous French cyclist. She competes in many types of bike racing. These include bicycle motocross (BMX) and different kinds of mountain bike races. She is known for winning many world championships.
Anne-Caroline has won thirteen senior mountain bike world titles. She also won fourteen European mountain bike championships. From 1998 to 2002, she won five Mountain Bike World Cup downhill series in a row. In 2008, she won a gold medal in BMX racing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
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Anne-Caroline Chausson's Cycling Journey
Anne-Caroline Chausson was born in Dijon, France. She started her career successfully in BMX racing. This part of her career ended in 1993.
Early Mountain Bike Success
In 1993, Anne-Caroline won her first downhill junior world championship gold medal. This started her amazing international career. She quickly became very successful in mountain bike racing. In 1994, while still a junior, she won her first World Cup race in Cap d'Ail, France.
She showed great skill in different weather and track conditions. She finished second in a muddy World Cup race in Hindelang, Germany. She also placed second in Silverstar the same year. This helped her finish second overall in the World Cup standings.
Junior and Senior World Titles
Anne-Caroline won two more junior downhill world championship gold medals in 1994 and 1995. After these wins, she moved up to compete with senior riders. In 1995, she wanted to race in the Elite category. She was not allowed to, but her race time was faster than the Elite Champion's. She was very emotional at the awards ceremony and did not want to wear the Junior Champion's jersey.
Once she joined the Elite category, she won the downhill title for eight years in a row. Many people consider her the greatest downhiller of all time. In 1996, she was second in the overall Mountain Bike World Cup title. However, she won the World Champions title that year.
Rivalries and More Wins
Anne-Caroline often competed against American rider Missy Giove. They battled for nearly ten years. In 1998, Chausson finally beat Giove to win the World Cup title. She also won the world championship that year. She repeated these double wins in 1999 and 2000. Each time, she beat Giove for the World Cup title.
Expanding Her Skills
In 2000, Anne-Caroline started competing in the duals event. In this race, two riders race on parallel courses with jumps and turns. They compete in a knockout style. Chausson won both the World Cup and world championship titles in duals that year. She won again in 2001, taking her second and last duals title.
The four-cross event was introduced in 2002. This race is like BMX, where four cyclists race on the same course. Only the fastest rider moves to the next round. Anne-Caroline won both the four-cross and downhill titles in 2002.
Olympic Gold in BMX
In 2007, Anne-Caroline returned to BMX racing. She wanted to win an Olympic medal, as BMX was new to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Her hard work paid off. She won the gold medal in Women's BMX. Since the women's medal race happened before the men's, she became the first person ever to win an Olympic gold medal in BMX.
After the Olympics, she went back to mountain biking. She focused on enduro racing. In 2012, she won the Trans-Provence Enduro Race, which lasted seven days.
Anne-Caroline Chausson has also shown great strength in her personal life. She has recovered well from health challenges and is back to riding her bikes.
BMX Olympic Champion
Anne-Caroline Chausson was chosen to represent France at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She competed in the first-ever women's BMX event. She won the gold medal in the final race. This made her the first Olympic gold medalist in BMX racing history.
Major Titles and Achievements
Anne-Caroline Chausson has won many important titles throughout her career:
BMX Titles
- BMX Olympic Champion: 2008
Mountain Biking Titles
- Junior Downhill World Champion: 1993, 1994, 1995
- Senior Downhill World Champion: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
- Senior Dual Slalom World Champion: 2000, 2001
- Senior Four-cross World Champion: 2002, 2003
- World Cup Downhill Series Winner: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
- World Cup Dual Slalom Series Winner: 2000
- World Cup Four-cross Series Winner: 2002
See also
In Spanish: Anne-Caroline Chausson para niños
