Marie-José Pérec (born 9 May 1968) is a retired
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
track and field
sprinter who specialised in the
200 and
400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.
Athletics career
Pérec won the
1991 World Championships 400 metres title in Tokyo and repeated the feat at the
1995 World Championships in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
. She was also the 400 metres champion at the
1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She entered the 200 metres and 400 metres events at the
1996 Olympic Games in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
and won both, thus achieving the second-ever Olympic 200 metres/400 metres
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...
double, after
Valerie Brisco-Hooks in
Los Angeles 1984. Pérec won the 400 metres title in an
Olympic record time of 48.25 seconds, which also ranked her as the third fastest woman of all time. It took 23 years until 2019 before
Salwa Eid Naser surpassed her mark to push Pérec to number 4 of all time.
In addition to her Olympic and World titles, Pérec also won the 400 metres title and was a part of the gold medal-winning
4 × 400 metres relay
The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the ...
team at the
1994 European Championships in Helsinki.
The two 1996 Olympic titles were Pérec's last international titles. In 1997 Pérec shifted to the 200 metres but withdrew at the semi-finals in the
World Championships that year and barely raced at all in 1998 and 1999. Having not run a 400 metres race since 1996, Pérec began her Olympic title defense by finishing third in Nice, behind eventual Olympic silver and bronze medalists
Lorraine Graham
Lorraine Fenton (born Lorraine Graham on 8 September 1973 in Manchester) is a retired Jamaican athlete who specialized in the 400 metres.
Career
Her career highlight came when she won the Olympic silver medal in 2000, being the first Jamaican ...
and
Katharine Merry
Katharine Merry (born 21 September 1974) is an English former sprinter. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was the fastest woman in the world over 400 m in 2001, with her career best of 49.59 seconds. She ...
. It was the last significant race Pérec ran. On 22 September 2000, she pulled out of the 200 metres and 400 metres events of the
2000 Olympic Games
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
in Sydney, several days before they were due to begin. Pérec claimed that she had been threatened and insulted several times since arriving in Australia and that the Australian press, who were supporting Australian athlete
Cathy Freeman, had been trying to sabotage her chances of winning the gold medal in the 400 metres.
Pérec trained in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, with the
HSI track team and is listed as a legend on the team's page.
Life after retirement from athletics
Pérec enrolled in the top French business school
ESSEC
The École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (more commonly ESSEC Business School or ESSEC) is a major French business and management school, with non-profit association status (French association law of 1901) founded in 190 ...
and graduated in 2007 with a Master's in Sports Management.
Pérec is a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of more than 70 famous elite athletes committed to promoting peace in the world through sports, created by
Peace and Sport, a
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
-based international organization.
On 21 October 2012, Pérec was elected president of the
Ligue Régionale d'Athlétisme de la Guadeloupe, the governing body for athletics in Guadeloupe.
Pérec participated in the French reality music competition ''Mask Singer'' as the Panthère, performing
Stromae's "
Papaoutai" and
Angèle's "Balance ton quoi" before being eliminated in the first episode.
Family
Pérec gave birth to her first child, a son named Nolan, on 30 March 2010. Pérec's partner
Sébastien Foucras is the father of the child.
Awards
Pérec was chosen as the
French Champion of Champions in 1992 and 1996 by the French sports daily ''
L'Équipe
''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor ...
''.
On 9 October 2013, Pérec was awarded the
Officier de la Légion d'honneur by French President
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...
in the
Élysée Palace. Just before presenting the insignia to Pérec during the award ceremony, Hollande described her as "one of the most brilliant athletes in the history of French athletics". Pérec had received the
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1996.
On 16 November 2013, Pérec was inducted into the
IAAF Hall of Fame.
Personal bests
*Rankings outside the brackets are world rankings
*Rankings inside the brackets are European
*FR = French record
*OR = Olympic record
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perec, Marie-Jose
1968 births
Living people
Black French sportspeople
French female sprinters
Olympic athletes of France
Olympic gold medalists for France
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Guadeloupean female sprinters
French people of Guadeloupean descent
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
World Athletics Championships medalists
European Athletics Championships medalists
Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
European champions for France
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships winners
Olympic female sprinters
People from Basse-Terre