The 35-year-old Frenchwoman brought back two bronze medals from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games on the track and she now looks set to take part in the Paris 2024 Olympics after claiming the paracycling road race world title last year.
Sport, however, is also a platform for Patouillet, also a gay rights activist, to raise awareness against discrimination on any basis, be it gender, sexual orientation or disability.
In 2022, she sported rainbow-coloured hair at the 2022 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in a bid to spark conversation on LGBTQIA+ rights.
"Athletes who left an impression on me through their activist commitments to fight against discrimination, they are rather Anglo-Saxon.
"I hope that the (2024) Games in Paris will give rise, or at least be an opportunity for certain athletes, to speak out on these subjects and that, after that, there will be changes on this."
Persons:
Marie Patouillet, Frenchwoman, Patouillet, Dykes, I've, it's, Julien Pretot, Christian Radnedge
Organizations:
Tokyo Paralympic Games, French, Reuters, Paralympic, Paralympics Games, French national Institute of Sport, Physical Education, Thomson
Locations:
Tokyo, Paris, France