Léon FLAMENG

Together with Paul Masson, Léon Flameng dominated the 1896 Olympic cycling events. He won the 100 km, in which Masson did not compete, but served as a pacemaker for Flameng, who won that race fairly easy, while riding with a French flag tied around his leg. Masson had defeated Flameng earlier in the sprint and the 10 km track races. Léon Flameng had achieved some measure of fame as a cyclist in August 1895, when he cycled 3,000 km. across France, in his own personal Tour de France. He never placed at the World Championships.

Flameng fought for France in World War I as a sergeant-pilot, initially with the 8e Regiment Artillery, and then with the 2e Aviation Group. He received his pilot’s license in January 1916. Later that year his plane was attacked and his observer killed, but Flameng, although wounded, managed to land the plane. He was transferred to a military hospital for treatment of his wounds, and returned to service in September 1916. On 2 January 1917 his plane’s engine failed. Flameng jumped from the plane but his parachute failed to open near Ève, Oise, and he died in the fall.