Marie José Pérec's donation to the IAAF (© c)
France’s Marie José Pérec, who won the 400m gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and a superb 200m-400m Olympic double at the Atlanta Games in 1996, has donated her 1995 World Championships winning kit to the IAAF humanitarian project Athletics for a Better World.
One of the most decorated and popular French athletes, Pérec won her first World Championships title at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships where she defeated Germany’s Grit Breuer. Four years later, Pérec won her second World Championships title in Gothenburg, this time defeating the Bahamas' Pauline Davis-Thompson.
At the 1994 European Championships, Pérec outclassed all rivals to win the individual 400m title and then led her country to the 4x400m relay gold medal.
With her 48.25 seconds win at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Pérec still stands as the third all-time fastest 400m runner.
Extremely versatile as an athlete, Pérec has held French national titles at disciplines as varied as the 100m, the 200m and 400m Hurdles as well as her strongest event, the 400m.
The 37-year-old has now retired from track and field but is still highly involved in the promotion of the sport. A TV commentator for a private French network at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Pérec was a regular contributor for the French Sports Daily L’Equipe during the 2005 Helsinki World Championships.
Pérec’s autographed donation will be auctioned at the end of the year and all profits donated to the United Nations Associations: FAO, UNICEF and WFP.