Personal and Early Life
Alain Prost was born near the town of Saint-Chamond, close to the city of Saint-Etienne in the département of Loire, France, to André Prost and Marie-Rose Karatchian, born in France of Armenian descent. Prost had one younger brother called Daniel, who died of cancer in September 1986. Although short, standing at 1.67m (5 ft 6 in) Prost was an active, athletic child, who enthusiastically took part in diverse sports, including wrestling, roller skating and football. In doing so he broke his nose several times. He considered careers as a gym instructor or a professional footballer before he discovered kart racing at the age of 14 while on a family holiday. This new sport quickly became his career of choice.
Prost is married to Anne-Marie (born 14 February 1955). They have two sons, Nicolas (born 18 October 1981) and Sacha Prost (born 30 May 1990). Prost also has a daughter, Victoria. As of 2008, Nicolas races in the Euroseries 3000 championship for the Elk Motorsport team. Prost lived in his hometown, Saint-Chamond, until he and his Renault team fell out in the early 1980s. In April 1983 the Prost family moved to Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, and shortly after to Yens, Switzerland. They moved to Switzerland after Renault workers went to Prost's house in France and burned his Mercedes-Benz. They lived there until November 1999, when they moved to Nyon in the same country.
In 1986 or 1987 Prost was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by President François Mitterrand.
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