Marie-José Pérec (; born 9 May 1968) is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was born in the French overseas department of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old.

Athletics career

Pérec first represented France in the 200 metres event at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul, reaching the quarter-finals. She won the 400metres world title at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and repeated the feat at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. She won her first

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

in the 400metres event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona. She entered the 200metres and 400metres events at the 1996 Atlanta Games and won both, achieving the second-ever Olympic 200metres/400metres gold medal double, after Valerie Brisco-Hooks in Los Angeles 1984. Pérec won the 400metres title in an

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

time of 48.25 seconds, which ranked her as the third-fastest woman of all time. It took another 23 years before Salwa Eid Naser, in October 2019, surpassed her mark to demote Pérec to fourth in the list of world's fastest-ever female 400-metre sprinters. In addition to her Olympic and World titles, Pérec won the 400metres title and was part of the gold medal-winning 4×400metres relay team at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki. The two 1996 Olympic golds were Pérec's last international titles. In 1997, she shifted to the 200metres but withdrew at the semi-finals stage in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

that year after sustaining a thigh muscle injury while

warming up 'Warming up' is a part of stretching and preparation for physical exertion or a performance by exercising or practicing gently beforehand, usually undertaken before a performance or practice. Athletes, singers, actors and others warm up before s ...

. She was diagnosed with glandular fever in March 1998, and the long recovery forced her to take time out from competitions until the following year. On 8July 2000, having not run a 400metres race since 1996, Pérec began her Olympic title defence by finishing third in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionNikaia meeting of the 2000 IAAF Grand Prix), behind eventual Olympic silver and bronze medalists Lorraine Graham and Katharine Merry. This was the last significant race Pérec took part in. On 22September 2000, she pulled out of the 200metres and 400metres events of the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, several days before they were due to start. Pérec claimed that she had been threatened and insulted several times since arriving in Australia and that the local press, who were supporting Australian athlete Cathy Freeman, had been trying to sabotage her chances of winning 400metres gold. Pérec trained in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with the HSI track team and is listed as a legend on the team's page. She officially retired from competitive athletics in June 2004 at the age of 36.

Life after retirement from athletics

Pérec enrolled in the top French business school ESSEC and graduated in 2007 with a Master's in Sports Management. She 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 Peace and Sport (also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport") is a sports organization based in Monaco under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Ivorian Football player, footballer Didier Drogba became the organization's ...

, a

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

-based international organisation. 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 Red Panther, performing Stromae's " Papaoutai" and Angèle's "Balance ton quoi" before being eliminated in the first episode. On 26 July 2024, Pérec and judoka Teddy Riner lit the Olympic cauldron at the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris.

Family

Pérec's partner is French freestyle skier Sébastien Foucras. They have one child, a son named Nolan, born on 30March 2010.

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, she 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. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

in the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

. 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". She had received the

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1996. Pérec was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in November 2013.

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 for 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 Officers of the Legion of Honour European champions for France Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners Olympic female sprinters People from Basse-Terre French Athletics Championships winners Olympic cauldron lighters 20th-century French sportswomen