 Pérec at the2016 Cannes Film Festival | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1968-05-09)9 May 1968 (age 57)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1984–2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft10+1⁄2 in (179 cm)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 132 lb (60 kg)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 200 metres,400 metres | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Marie-José Pérec (French:[maʁiʒozepeʁɛk]ⓘ; born 9 May 1968)[3] is a retired French track and fieldsprinter who specialised in the200 and400 metres and is a three-timeOlympic gold medalist.[4] She was born in theFrench overseas department ofGuadeloupe and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old.[5]
Pérec first represented France in the200 metres event at the1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul,[5] reaching the quarter-finals.[6] She won the 400 metres world title at the1991 World Championships in Tokyo[7] and repeated the feat at the1995 World Championships in Gothenburg.[8] She won her firstOlympic gold medal in the400 metres event at the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[2][5]
She entered the200 metres and400 metres events at the1996 Atlanta Games and won both,[2] achieving the second-ever Olympic 200 metres/400 metres gold medal double,[5] afterValerie Brisco-Hooks inLos Angeles 1984.[9][10] Pérec won the 400 metres title in anOlympic record time of 48.25 seconds,[3] which ranked her as the third-fastest woman of all time.[6] It took another 23 years beforeSalwa 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.[3][11]
In addition to her Olympic and World titles, Pérec won the 400 metres title and was part of the gold medal-winning4 × 400 metres relay team at the1994 European Championships in Helsinki.[12] The two 1996 Olympic golds were Pérec's last international titles. In 1997, she shifted to the 200 metres but withdrew at the semi-finals stage in theWorld Championships that year after sustaining a thigh muscle injury whilewarming up.[6][13] She was diagnosed withglandular fever in March 1998, and the long recovery forced her to take time out from competitions until the following year.[6][13]
On 8 July 2000, having not run a 400 metres race since 1996, Pérec began her Olympic title defence by finishing third inNice (at theNikaia meeting of the2000 IAAF Grand Prix), behind eventual Olympic silver and bronze medalistsLorraine Graham andKatharine Merry.[14] This was the last significant race Pérec took part in. On 22 September 2000, she pulled out of the 200 metres and 400 metres events of the2000 Sydney Games, 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 athleteCathy Freeman, had been trying to sabotage her chances of winning 400 metres gold.[15][16]
Pérec trained inLos Angeles with theHSI track team and is listed as a legend on the team's page.[17] She officially retired from competitive athletics in June 2004 at the age of 36.[12][18]
Pérec enrolled in the top French business schoolESSEC and graduated in 2007 with a Master's in Sports Management.[18]
She is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club,[19] a group of more than 70 famous elite athletes committed to promoting peace in the world through sports, created byPeace and Sport, aMonaco-based international organisation.[20]
On 21 October 2012, Pérec was elected president of theLigue Régionale d'Athlétisme de la Guadeloupe, the governing body for athletics in Guadeloupe.[21]
Pérec participated in the French reality music competitionMask Singer as the Red Panther, performingStromae's "Papaoutai" andAngèle's "Balance ton quoi" before being eliminated in the first episode.[22]
On 26 July 2024, Pérec and judokaTeddy Riner lit the Olympic cauldron at the2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris.[23]
Pérec's partner is French freestyle skierSébastien Foucras. They have one child, a son named Nolan, born on 30 March 2010.[24]
Pérec was chosen as theFrench Champion of Champions in 1992 and 1996 by the French sports dailyL'Équipe.
On 9 October 2013, she was awarded theOfficier de la Légion d'honneur by French PresidentFrançois Hollande in theÉlysée 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". She had received theChevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1996.[25]
Pérec was inducted into theIAAF Hall of Fame in November 2013.[1][26]
| Event | Time (seconds) | Wind (m/s) | Date | Venue | All-time ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 10.96 | +1.2 | 27 July 1991 | Dijon, France | 43rd (15th) |
| 200 m | 21.99 (FR) | +1.1 | 2 July 1993 | Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France | 21st (9th) |
| 400 m | 48.25 (FR), (OR) | 29 July 1996 | Atlanta, Georgia | 4th (3rd) | |
| 400 m hurdles | 53.21 (FR) | 16 August 1995 | Zürich, Switzerland | 20th (6th) |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's Track & Field ESPY Award 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Women's 200 m Best Year Performance alongside  Mary Onyali1996 | Succeeded by |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by | Flagbearer for FranceAtlanta 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Final Olympic torchbearer Paris 2024 alongTeddy Riner | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Final Summer Olympic torchbearer Paris 2024 along Teddy Riner | Succeeded by TBA2028 |
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European Athletics Championships champions in women's400 metres | |
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