QWho could imagine such an epilogue for a champion who left her mark on the 1990s and the world of athletics? Landing in Sydney in September 2000 to compete in the Olympic Games, Marie-José Pérec did not expect to experience such an ordeal. Four years after his magnificent double from Atlanta over 200 and 400 meters, the gazelle wants to do it again. But Australia is much more hostile than America: her rival Cathy Freeman, who lit the Olympic flame, is so adored on the spot that her supporters turn into detractors for Pérec. Harassed at her hotel and verbally assaulted, she decides to flee in incredible conditions.
“I am devastated”, will explain in the columns of The Team the Guadeloupean, who will never see the tracks of Stadium Australia. Difficult to know if she would have been able to defend her title over 400 meters, for her fourth participation in the Olympics. His preparation was not ideal: after his coronations in Atlanta, Marie-José Pérec went on to disappointing results and injuries. Problem in the right thigh in 1997, mononucleosis in 1998: the five-time champion of France has the lowest morale. Her return to competition a year later, in 1999, is not reassuring: lacking rhythm and above all results, she will not be able to line up at the World Championships in Seville.
To cause an electric shock, she decides to change trainer. Gone is John Smith, the coach who helped her triumph in Atlanta; hello Wolfgang Meier and his decried methods. The German had allowed Marita Koch to obtain in the 1980s the world record for the discipline (47.6 s). A performance strongly called into question, with the shadow of mass doping in the GDR at the time. Regardless of the criticism of her choice, Marie-José Pérec finally refocused on athletics and achieved the minimum in Nice in July 2000 to qualify for the Sydney Olympics, with a third place.
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Despite this checkered preparation, the Frenchwoman arrives in Australia with the fangs and the objective well in mind to keep her crown. But his journey from Sydney quickly turns into a nightmare. Wishing to concentrate as much as possible in a quiet and isolated place, Marie-José Pérec chose not to settle in the Olympic village but rather in a hotel with her companion, the American Anthuan Maybank, also a runner in the 400 meters. The collective hysteria around Cathy Freeman, his rival, then goes beyond the limits. Its place of residence is known by its detractors and the paparazzi: the gazelle becomes a target.
“Watch out, we’ll fix you”
“There were always people coming to me and saying things like: ‘What are you doing here?’, or: ‘Be careful, we’ll fix you up.’ People making threatening gestures, spotting me in the car and starting to follow me, ”she explained to The Team. A person even knocks on the door of his hotel room, pretending to deliver a package. A lively discussion ensued, the drop too many for Pérec: “That’s what made me leave. Suddenly, that morning, I took my bag and nothing else mattered, not even the gold medal that I had come to get, ”she says, annoyed by this hostile atmosphere. who will have got the better of his ambitions.
The hasty departure of the three-time Olympic champion only makes the situation worse. Recognized at Singapore airport, she was once again challenged by the press and this fortuitous encounter quickly heated people’s minds. His companion can’t take it anymore and physically attacks a cameraman. The two runners spend a few hours at the police station, and it will take the intervention of the French Embassy to get Marie-José Pérec out of trouble. The Olympic dream ends in pain. The athlete’s last race will therefore remain, for posterity, this third place in Nice a few weeks earlier…
Missed farewells in Paris
If Marie-José Pérec will keep a lifelong injury from Sydney – she said she would “never set foot in Australia again” – the Frenchwoman had nevertheless wanted to bounce back after this psychodrama. Determined to participate in the Paris Worlds in 2003, and why not aim for the Athens Olympics the following year, she resumed training, but her body had already let go. The sciatic nerve is affected and prevents him from competing in the Parisian event. On June 7, 2004, she ended up announcing her retirement, at the age of 36. “I’m here this evening to tell you quite simply that this great adventure, which started when I was 15, ends this year. I finally decided to hang up the tips. Myself, it makes me very funny to say to myself “I’m stopping my career”, and yet, that’s the case. »
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The Australian stormy episode and this missed return are obviously not what we must remember from the immense career of Marie-José Pérec, one of the greatest sportswomen of all time. With three Olympic titles, four European medals and two world titles, she has one of the finest records in French sport. She is also one of the 48 members of the World Athletics Hall of Fame, created by the IAAF, alongside, in particular, Jesse Owens and Emil Zátopek. Everyone except Australians knows how unique the gazelle will remain.