Marie-José Pérec
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Marie-José Pérec (born May 9, 1968) is a French athlete, specialised in the 200 and 400 m, and a triple Olympic champion.
She was born in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old.
Pérec experienced her first major international success in 1991, when she became World Champion in the 400 m in Tokyo. She then became the favourite for the Olympic 400 m title in 1992 in Barcelona which she went on to win, becoming the first Frenchwoman to win an athletics Olympic gold medal since 1968 when Colette Besson won the same event in Mexico City.
Four years later--again, as the defending 400 m World Champion--she entered in the 200 m at the Olympics in Atlanta. Surprisingly, she managed to win both events achieving a rare 200/400 m double gold medal. She won the 400 m in the Olympic record time of 48.25 seconds. Pérec was the first athlete of either sex to win the 400 m title twice and to accomplish the 200/400 gold medal double at a non-boycotted Olympics; she completed her double 20 minutes before Michael Johnson matched the feat.
In addition to the Olympic and World titles, Pérec also won the European Championship 400 m individual and 4x400 m relay titles in Helsinki in 1994.
The 1996 two Olympic titles were Pérec's last international titles prior to the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. She was set to compete against Australia's Cathy Freeman in those Olympics, but just before the Games Pérec left the Olympic village in controversy and did not compete.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 200 m |
|---|
| Fanny Blankers-Koen | Marjorie Jackson | Betty Cuthbert | Wilma Rudolph | Edith McGuire | Irena Szewińska | Renate Stecher | Bärbel Eckert Wöckel (twice) | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | Florence Griffith Joyner | Gwen Torrence | Marie-José Pérec | Marion Jones | Veronica Campbell |
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 400 m |
|---|
| Betty Cuthbert | Colette Besson | Monika Zehrt | Irena Szewińska | Marita Koch | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | Olga Bryzgina | Marie-José Pérec (twice) | Cathy Freeman | Tonique Williams-Darling |
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