French star Perec fears for life, flees Sydney

French star Perec fears for life, flees Sydney
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

SYDNEY, SEPTEMBER 21: Sport was forced into the backseat in bizarre circumstances at the Olympics on Thursday, as French track star Marie-Jose Perec fled to Singapore where she and her boyfriend Anthuan Maybank were questioned by police over the assault of a camerman.

Just 36 hours before she was to start the defence of her Olympic 400m crown, and a much hyped clash with Australian heroine Cathy Freeman, the woman dubbed Greta Garbo because of her reclusive existence quit Australia saying she had been threatened by a stalker.

She was harassed in her hotel on Wednesday ``by anunidentified man who forced his way into her room and threatened her,'' her main sponsor Reebok said.

But, neither police nor hotel management had any record of such an incident.

As French officials pleaded for triple Olympic gold medallist Perec to call them, she was at a Singapore police station with her boyfriend being questioned about an attack on Australian cameraman at Singapore airport.

Investigations into a complaint of ``voluntarily causing hurt'' were continuing, he said.

On footage shown on Australia's Channel Nine, Maybank would be heard saying to cameraman Kyme Hallion: ``Listen to me. If you come near me again, I will hurt you.''

Perec had been booked to fly on from Singapore, but adding to the day's confusion Reebok first announced she was out of the Games then later said her withdrawal was ``unconfirmed.''

Reebok's Denise Kaigler said Perec was physically fine. ``She has been under stress, but that's because of the Olympic competition.''

But French officials were ready to accept the Games were over for the defending 200m and 400m Olympic champion.

French delegation Michel Vial head said if she did return to Australia she would hardly be in ideal shape after two eight-hour flights inside 24 hours.

The 32-year-old's showdown with Freeman, the World champion and Atlanta silver medallist, was expected to be one of the highlights of the Games.

Notoriously private, Perec had been training away fromher team mates and was staying in a city hotel far from the athletes' village.

She has been racked by injury since being diagnosed shortly after the 1996 games with the strength-sapping Epstein-Barr syndrome and only made a belated comeback in Europe earlier this year.

She was beaten into third place in a 400m Grand Prix event in England in June and has not raced since, entering and withdrawing from race after race.

But French athletics president Philippe Lamblin said on Tuesday her training was going well and her body could stand up to her schedule.

Freeman has beaten her only once, at a European invitational just weeks after their Atlanta showdown.

Her biggest threat, barring Perec's return, is now expected to come from Mexico's Ana Guevara, Britain's emerging Katherine Merry and America's Latasha Colander-Richardson.