Arnaud Tournant (born 5 April 1978) is a French track cyclist. He has won 14

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and won a gold, silver and a bronze at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. In track cycling, he is third behind

Harrie Lavreysen Harrie Lavreysen (born 14 March 1997) is a Dutch track cyclist who competes in sprint events. He is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, having won the sprint and team sprint event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and adding the sprint, the team spr ...

(20) and Sir Chris Hoy (17) in the number of global gold medals in his palmares.

Biography

Tournant was born in

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, near the border with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and currently lives in

Fontenay-sous-Bois Fontenay-sous-Bois () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Name The name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as ''Fontanetum'', meaning "the spring ...

. He began making his mark as an international rider whilst still in the junior ranks, winning the silver medal at the Junior Track World Championships in 1996.

World record

Tournant is a former world record holder (at altitude) for the

kilo Kilo may refer to: *kilo- (k-), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 103 *Kilogram (kg), a metric unit of mass Music *Kilo, a funk/R&B band from Bloomington/Indianapolis/Indiana *KILO, a Colorado radio station *''El Kilo'', a 2005 album by th ...

(1000m time trial). He first set the record in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 2000, with a time of 1:00.148. In October the following year, at the age of 23, Tournant became the first man to go under the one-minute mark, breaking his own world record with a new time of 58.875 seconds set at

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy (born 23 March 1976) is a former Track cycling, track cyclist and racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, Great Britain at the Olympic Games, Olympic and World Championships and Scot ...

came to within 0.005 seconds of Tournant's record on his second attempt, but failed to beat it. Hoy said he could not go any faster, and had even more respect for Tournant and his talents.

2004

Tournant was a member of the French team sprint squad at the

2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship set of events for track cycling. Both men's and women's events took place, with nine men's events and six women's events. They took place in Melbourne Melbourne ...

, this was the sixth time they won a gold medal with Tournant. He also picked up a silver medal in the Kilo. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Tournant won a silver medal in the kilo, and a bronze in the team sprint. Tournant refused to speak at a post-race press conference at the Olympics, until Stephane Mandard, a journalist for ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' newspaper, and an anti-doping campaigner, left the room. Mandard's reporting of the Cofidis doping scandal had left scars, despite the fact that Tournant had not been involved. At the press conference, Tournant held his ground and after a long pause, Mandard walked out.

2008 and retirement

Tournant was a member of the team sprint squad (with Grégory Baugé, Kévin Sireau and Mickaël Bourgain) which won a silver medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. He retired after these Olympic Games and was made a Commander of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

on 14 November 2008. However, he will continue to be involved in cycling as he has been named as the new directeur sportif of the Cofidis track team.

Major results

;1996 :2nd Sprint, Track World Championships - Junior ;1997 :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :2nd Sprint, French National Track Championships ;1998 :1st Kilo, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint,

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

(with Laurent Gané & Damien Gerard) :1st Sprint,

:1st Kilo,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

:2nd Team Sprint,

;1999 :1st Kilo, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint,

(with Mickaël Bourgain & Vincent Le Quellec) :1st Sprint,

:2nd Sprint, French National Track Championships ;2000 :1st Team Sprint,

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

:1st Kilo, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships ;2001 :Kilo World record in

, 58.875 :1st Kilo, Track World Championships :1st Sprint, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :3rd Sprint, French National Track Championships ;2002 :2nd Kilo,

UCI Track World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

:2nd Sprint,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

:2nd Team Sprint,

:1st Team Sprint,

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

(with Franck Durivaux & Arnaud Dublé) :1st Kilo,

:2nd Sprint, French National Track Championships ;2003 :2nd Kilo, French National Track Championships :3rd Sprint, French National Track Championships :3rd Kilo, Track World Championships :2nd Team Sprint, Track World Championships ;2004 :2nd Kilo, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :2nd Kilo,

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...

:1st Team Sprint,

:1st Kilo, French National Track Championships :2nd Sprint, French National Track Championships :2nd Kilo,

:3rd Team Sprint,

;2005 :2nd Keirin,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

:2nd Sprint,

:3rd Team Sprint,

:3rd Sprint,

:1st Team Sprint,

:1st Sprint, French National Track Championships :2nd Keirin, French National Track Championships ;2006 :3rd Sprint,

:2nd Team Sprint,

:3rd Keirin, Track World Championships :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :3rd Sprint, French National Track Championships ;2007 :3rd Masters of Sprint :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships ;2008 :1st Team Sprint, Track World Championships :2nd Team Sprint,

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tournant, Arnaud 1978 births Living people French male cyclists Olympic cyclists for France Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Sportspeople from Roubaix Cyclists from Nord (French department) Olympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics French track cyclists 20th-century French sportsmen