Career
Purvis had excelled as a runner in her school years, scoring a top 15 finish in the English Schools National Cross-Country Championship, but gave up the sport after suffering a serious calf injury at the age of 19. Marie initially took up cycling at the age of 26 to improve her fitness, but soon progressed into competition, twice breaking the Isle of Manitoba women"s 10-mile time trial record in 1988. She finished fourth in the road race at the 1994.
Purvis set a new British hour record at Manchester Velodrome on 10 March 1995, beating Mandy Jones" previous mark set in 1981 by over two kilometres.
She scored her best result at the Olympics in the 1996 Games road race, when she finished 11th. She retired from international competition the same year.