Amélie Le Gall Explained

Amélie Le Gall, known as Mademoiselle Lisette or Lisette Marton, was born in 1869 in Quintin^[1] and was a French competitive cyclist. She was considered the women's world champion in the sport in 1896.

Early life

Amélie Le Gall was the daughter of a carpenter.^[2] She was reportedly working as a shepherdess in Brittany when she was wooed by a male cyclist who married her and trained her in the sport.^[3]

Career

Amélie Le Gall began competing in France, at exhibition contests to promote the new sport.^[4] In 1895, Marton competed in a race at the Royal Aquarium in London.^[5] She defeated Scottish cyclist Clara Grace for the women's world championship in 1896,^[6] and sometimes raced male riders,^{[7] [8]} as when she defeated Albert Champion.^[9] She trained with controversial English coach Choppy Warburton^{[10] [11]} and was sponsored by Simpson Chain, a British bicycle chain manufacturer. She raced in Chicago in 1898 and in Winnipeg in 1900.^[12]

Her clothing was often described in detail, as the question of what women should wear on a bicycle was a topic of discussion at the time.^[13] "In France, Lisette never wears a dress," reported one Chicago newspaper in 1898, continuing that "Lisette dislikes corsets. To her they seem the culminating point in feminine attire of ugliness, unsuitability, and anti-hygienic stupidity."

Notes and References

1. Web site: MRS Grace versus Lisette: A comparison of the English and French women's cycling champions. PART 3 Lisette – the women's champion of France | Playing Pasts.
2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19907033/amelie_le_gall_1898/ "Lisette to Ride in Chicago"
3. http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1895/VOL_25_NO_02/SL2502023.pdf "What a Gall She Had!"
4. Richard Holt, "Women, Men and Sport in France, c. 1870-1914: An Introductory Survey" Journal of Sport History 18(1)(1991): 126. via LA84 Foundation
5. Sheila Hanlon, "Ladies’ Cycle Races at The Royal Aquarium: A Late Victorian Sporting Spectacle" SheilaHanlon.com (January 26, 2015).
6. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84031792/1896-05-24/ed-1/?q=Topaz+times&sp=24&st=text "Champion Woman Cyclist of the World"
7. http://newspapers.library.wales/view/3259587/3259589/27/Lisette%20bicycle "Michael v Mdlle Lisette; A Sporting Match in Paris"
8. Aaron Cripps, "James ‘Jimmy’ Michael, Welsh Cycling Champion: Part 2 – Successes and Scandals, January-July 1896" Europeenses (October 11, 2014).
9. Allen Guttmann, Women's Sports: A History (Columbia University Press 1991): 102.
10. Feargal McKay, "The Little Black Bottle, by Gerry Moore" Podium Cafe (August 9, 2011).
11. William Fotheringham, Cyclopedia: It's All About the Bike (Chicago Review Press 2015).
12. "Bicycling" Winnipeg Tribune (June 11, 1900): 3. via Newspapers.com
13. Katrina Jungnickel, "'One needs to be very brave to stand all that': Cycling, rational dress and the struggle for citizenship in late nineteenth century Britain" Geoforum 64(August 2015): 362-371.