Who is Marion Clignet and why is she bringing French journalists to Rwanda???
Marion Clignet and Tom Ritchey meet up in Spain
In 1990, Marion Clignet moved from the United States, where she was born in Hyde Park, Illinois, to France, the home of her parents. Since then she has represented France internationally bringing home six world titles, two Olympic medals, and numerous French National titles. Yet she is still referred to as the ‘American’ on the team.
Marion has fought many battles in her life, from epilepsy and inflammatory arthritis to the narrow mindedness of Cycling Federations. She has been working hard to lift the profile of women’s sport and now finds that Cycling itself, the sport she loves most, is under constant attack.
Over the past nine years all we've heard on the French TV, radio, print is cycling means drugs, and how can an American (meaning Lance,etc) come in and just win everything, blah, blah,..I’ve gotten into more debates with the French about training ethics, working ethics, etc and at the end of the day I was really starting to get cynical about the French, their attitude on cycling, and where my favorite past time was heading. This year seemed to be hitting an all time high when before the tour the French journalists were accusing anyone and everyone of drugs. I seemed to be feeling more and more cynical towards the French and in particular the French cycling authorities.
One day I was reading some information on the internet and I found a link to Project Rwanda. I had heard of this guy with the mustache, Tom Ritchey because people I used to train and race with in the US had ridden for him and because I’ve attended most of the pro men’s team camps here to prepare my seasons and he supplied a good number of their bikes with gorgeous handle bars, stems, etc. etc...I had also seen ‘Hotel Rwanda’ and met another producer who gave us a private viewing of ‘Shooting Dogs’. Right then and there I remember thinking to myself I have to be able to help in some way....
This link to Project Rwanda I was looking at was like a light bulb in my already electric (sorry, couldn’t pass that one up) head, so I wrote to TR who voiced me back...
France was just hitting the cycling community so hard and making the general public think that cycling was a negative thing that I had an idea. Let me bring the French sports reporters to Rwanda and show them what ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way' means and cover more bases than one. This is about building as a team, solidarity, cycling, the bike as a tool of hope, economic growth and there is no race, sex, visible ethnic issue at hand here. The French producer loved the idea especially of the Rwandan team, how they started, where they’re going, and the Wooden Bike Classic....and that yes, the cycling community is solid and are world wide amongst men and women and through cycling something other than a blood or pee test will be positive.
So, these guys are keen to come over, follow a few of the members of the Rwandan cycling team, speak with Tom, Dan, Jock who are amongst those at the base of this, visit a coffee farm and coffee bike transporters, follow the wooden bike classic and other races before leaving again on Sunday.
France and the media in general has stayed away from Rwanda since the genocide. By bringing French journalists to Rwanda, Marion will not only open people's eyes to the positive things that cycling and the cycling community has to offer, but also a country filled with stories of reconciliation and healing. A country ready to start anew.
Marion's Story
I came to France in 1991 to race for the French national cycling team after being refused a spot on the United States Worlds team time trial team heading to worlds in 1990. I had just taken a gold, silver, and bronze in the three road events proposed at the National cycling championships in Albany New York (Our neophyte team beat the US national team in the TTT, I took a bronze in the Individual TT, and on a fairly challenging road course I initiated a break with Ruthie Matthis (former Team Ritchey rider!) and we covered over 45kms together before she dropped me with 1km to go leaving me with a silver).
When Rinus Verboom, the US women's coach at the time called out the names of the riders on the long team and my name was not on the list I asked Rinus if there was an error and he simply told me that because I have epilepsy I could be a risk to the team. I swallowed hard, repeated at least 20 times in my own mind, “Don't hit him, Marion, keep your cool, don't hit him, Marion...etc” before thinking to myself “well, hell's bells! I have 2 passports so why don't i just do what I've always said I'd do anyway!”.....My parents and entire family are French born and raised and my father's work as a sociologist is what brought them to Chicago in 1963 before I was born. I sauntered out in 1964 and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. In 1980 we moved to Maryland so I finished high school there and attended college at the University of Maryland in College Park. One fine day at the age of 22 for a still unexplained reason today, I just fell over and had a grand mal seizure... people were looking at me as I woke up lying on a floor asking me if I was ok....I scanned the faces and didn't recognize any of them and someone asked me where I lived. 'no idea', I answered but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I was a bit miffed at what was going on.
A quick summary of
Marion "risk to the team" Clignet:
- 5 time French pursuit champion
- 2 time French road champion
- 1 time French tt champion
- 1 time U.S. TTT champion
- World TTT champion (1991)
- 1996 Atlanta Olympics - Silver Medal
- World 3km pursuit champion (1994, 1996, 1999)
- World points race champion (1999)
- World Cup wins in 3km pursuit & points race in Cali, Colombia (1999)
- 2000 Sydney Olympics - Silver Medal
- World 3km pursuit record holder
- More than 150 road victories
Clignet's autobiography, Tenacious,
written with Benjamin C. Hovey, is available in English or French. It can
be ordered from the Expansion Scientifique Française 2005, 15 Rue Saint- Benoît, 75278, Paris Cedex 06, France.
The cost is 10 Euros (approximately $13.50).
All proceeds benefit epilepsy research.
“Well, what's your name?” someone else asked....
Now, I was really miffed because I knew I should know the answer
and I didn't! I told them to give me a few minutes and I'm sure it would
come to me.
The last question they asked was ”Can you tell us who the president
of the United States of America is?”
And I thought, at last! a question I can answer!!! I was absolutely
certain it was NIXON -(who'd been impeached 12 years earlier,
the president was still Reagan at the time).
I immediately noticed two ambulance attendants reach down and
that was it, they scooped me up, loaded me onto a stretcher and I was
sent off to the neurological unit of the Washington hospital center.....
For two days tests were run, MRIs, cat scans, blood tests, urine
tests, etc.....
Finally a neurologist came in and said well, good news, you don't
have a tumor or cancer but you have epilepsy.
I had no idea what epilepsy was....
Then the neurologist told me everything I could no longer do.
Your driver's license will be suspended immediately for one year,
don't go out alone, don't talk to anyone especially at work or
school about your epilepsy as it's still considered a taboo, weird, etc...
She just kept going down this list and telling me that from this
day on I was a condition? a weirdo?
ARGGGGGGGGGGG! I thought to myself, a weirdo yes, I've always
been different but no one is going to barge into my life and tell
me I have to change all the rules to play a new or someone else's game.
If I can't drive for one year ok but I still have a hunk of junk
ten speed bike I ride around on and now I'll have to ride it more as that
will become my transportation.
From that day on I started riding 60kms a day to work and back,
struggled for about a year to find a suitable treatment for my
epilepsy but I managed to deal with 1-3 seizures a year and I told everyone
I had epilepsy as I didn't want there to be any misunderstanding about
anything. Epilepsy is like a short circuit in your internal wiring.
If I didn't tell you I have epilepsy you wouldn't know unless you witnessed
a seizure. I feel them coming on but they are pretty rare.
Over the next three years I got hooked on riding my bike, trained
with a group of guys and worked my way up through the national
'system' so here I am in front of the US coach thinking, 'I have two passports'.
Since I was raised in a french family I always figured I'd live
in France for at least a year at some point in my life to see
if I felt more French or American and take it from there but here I had
a decision to make and a dream to realize.
My decision was to take up an offer made to me that summer after winning a stage at the women's Tour of Idaho from two French riders who knew I had dual citizenship. They said I could come and ride with them anytime in France. So, instead of hitting the US team coach in the face for telling me I could be a 'risk' I said 'your loss mate', and went to the nearest pay phone. 3 calls later I'm on my way to France, Brittany to be exact to race for a club team in Lorient.
I had a superb end of season and the French national team director
offered me a spot on the national team for the following season which
included a selection for the Barcelona Olympic Games! My Olympic dream,
epileptic or not, was going to happen! from here I'll shorten the story
(I've written a book to promote research on epilepsy that tells all
of this story-it's called Tenacious and is available in English on
line www.epilepsie-fondation.fr
So....Ive been in France since 1991, have represented France internationally
bringing home 6 world titles, world pursuit record from 1996-2000,
and 2 Olympic silvers. And I'm still referred to as the 'American'
on the team.
I retired from racing in 2004 and worked for a short while as director
sportif of the New Zealand national team which was great fun though
very little budget and I didn't have enough say in the program that
needed a bit of change in order for the team to move forward. For the
last two years I've worked as director sportif and coach of a French
men's elite 2 team who wanted to move up to elite 1. I've coached several
of their riders who have moved up to elite 1 but the club itself doesn't
have the budget to move up to elite 1 and I can't do volunteer work
for them. 2007 has been a particular year. For women to race in France,
the country that organizes the largest bike race in the world yet does
absolutely nothing for women in the sport, this is one tough world.
I spent over 70% of each season sorting out sponsors, budgets, logistics,etc
In order to get social security I had an elite athlete contract with
the postal service that would have gladly hired me as a postman when
I stopped racing but that just doesn't fit into my deck of cards....
Learn More About Marion Here »
