Top 100 Athletes of the Century
At the University of Wisconsin
#80 - Ann French
Ann French, a four-year letter winner in badminton (1978-82), was No. 1 in both singles and doubles throughout her UW career, a national champion and an outstanding student. Later she served as a team leader for badminton at the Atlanta Olympics and as a member of the USOC legislative committee and board of directors.
The four-year All-American won national doubles titles in 1981 and '82 with Badger teammate Claire Allison. Ann also finished among the top eight players in singles competition all four years. In 1979 she earned the Honda Broderick Award for badminton as the outstanding woman collegiate player in the nation.
A civil and environmental engineering major, she maintained a 3.788 average while earning a bachelor's degree in 1982. Also that year she was awarded the first Big Ten Medal of Honor given a woman athlete at Wisconsin. In 1990 she was the USOC's Athlete of the Year for badminton.
She continued her education at Wisconsin, earning a master of science degree in her major in 1983. Later badminton competition took Ann throughout the world. She was a member of the USBA national team in 1984-85, 1990-91 USBA national doubles champion, and a member of the 1987 USA World Championship teams in Beijing, China, and in 1993 in Birmingham, England. In 1995 she competed for the USA at the Pan-American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
As part of "Celebrate 2000", Madison newspapers selected the top 100 Athletes for the 20th century at the University of Wisconsin. The above is from October 22, 1999 edition.