Marie Purvis (born 24 September 1961), now known as Marie Morgan, is an English former racing cyclist who represented Great Britain at the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. She won the British National Road Race Championships on five occasions. Purvis had excelled as a runner in her school years, scoring a top 15 finish in the English Schools National Cross-Country Championship, but gave up the sport after suffering a serious calf injury at the age of 19. She subsequently married John Purvis, a Manx cyclist who had finished fourth in the road race at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

. Marie initially took up cycling at the age of 26 to improve her fitness, but soon progressed into competition, twice breaking the Isle of Man women's 10-mile time trial record in 1988. She was selected to represent the Isle of Man at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

, and in the same year won her first British Road Racing title - she dominated the event in the first half of the 1990s, winning five out of six editions of the national championships from 1990 to 1995, taking her final title in 1995 on the Isle of Man. She finished fourth in the road race at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

. She became the first British rider to win a stage of the modern Tour de France Féminin since its establishment in 1984 when she won a stage of the 1993 race, following it up with another stage win in the 1995 edition. Purvis set a new British hour record at Manchester Velodrome on 10 March 1995, beating

Mandy Jones Amanda Ellen "Mandy" Jones is a British former racing cyclist born in 1962 who won the women's world road race championship in 1982. Biography Jones joined the West Pennine Road Club to ride on Sunday outings. She rode her first race in 1974 ...

' previous mark set in 1981 by over two kilometres. She scored her best result at the Olympics in the 1996 Games road race, when she finished 11th. She retired from international competition the same year. In 2001, she returned to her roots in athletics when she won gold in the

half-marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

at the

2001 Island Games The 2001 Island Games were the ninth Island Games, and were held in Isle of Man, from July 7 to July 13, 2001. Medal table Sports The sports chosen for the games were: External links Man 2001 {{Island Games Island Games, 2001 Island Gam ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Marie 1961 births Living people English female cyclists Sportspeople from Manchester Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Manx female cyclists British cycling road race champions