The female Michael Johnson? Harrumph. Why not call Johnson the male Marie-Jose Perec? In achievement the Frenchwoman was Johnson's match; in style she outran him, even if the frenzied hordes hardly noticed. By overtaking the Australian Aborigine Cathy Freeman in the 400-m race, then the great Jamaican Merlene Ottey in the 200, Perec mirrored Johnson's celebrated double. And the reaction of the proto-fan? "Hey, look at that! Man, that must hurt!"

She says it doesn't. The skimpy thong is more comfortable than it looks. Says she likes it.

Well, that figures. Perec, 28, is the fast and fancy type, a 60-kg, 1.8-m package of speed and ooh-la-la. She has walked Parisian catwalks, been mobbed on Parisian streets. "In Paris, I am like Michael Jordan," she says, and she means Jordan, not Johnson.

But hers is not a Paris-bred pizazz. She was born in Guadeloupe, and--as France is painfully aware--she now makes her home in Beverly Hills, California. Her relationship with the country whose colors she wears is complicated at best, conflicted at worst. "I was never relaxed when I was in France, always nervous," she says. "Since coming to America, I feel no pressure, and I do better. In France, I didn't think of myself as exceptional. Now I do."

Her problems in Europe began with her first great success. After winning a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, she found herself a celebrity of high rank, an object of envy and desire. But when her times stalled, the sporting press savaged her. Her domineering coach Jacques Piasenta offered no defense, and that was the last straw. Perec split from Piasenta and split for the U.S., where she came under the tutelage of college coach John Smith. As just another anonymous athlete in Los Angeles, she resumed the progress of old. By the time she reached Atlanta she was ready to defend her title in the 400, at the very least.

What she wasn't reckoning on was a 400 in which the top six runners would be under 50 sec.--it had never happened before. She needed a furious stretch run to catch Freeman, 23, but catch her she did off the home turn. Perec crossed in an Olympic record 48.25.

Now she decided to enter the 200 "for fun." Nonsense, of course--as was made evident when she blazed through the heats with her three best times this year. She ran her semi in 22.07; Ottey ran hers in 22.08. A classic showdown was in the offing. Ottey, 36, went out fast and first, as was expected. But as the sprinter lost speed, the runner gained. "La Gazelle" seized the lead with 10 m left and bounded across the line in 22.12, 0.1 ahead of Ottey. "This was my eighth race, so I was not so fresh anymore," Perec said, excusing the time. "I'm only human." Ha!

Perec seemed less than transported afterward. She explained that denying Ottey in her last chance for individual gold tempered her joy. "I respect her a lot," she said. "You could see on my face at the end that it bothered me." The win nonetheless assured that the Perec of '96, like Johnson, would be remembered as an Olympian for the ages.

But not by all. At another press conference in Atlanta, this one conducted in French for French reporters, she let drop that bit about being "exceptional."

A galled Gaul shot back, "What!?"

Perec: I think I'm exceptional.

Journaliste: It is not for you to say so!

Perec: But I am reaching the pinnacle of my performance. It is exceptional.

Journaliste: That's so American!

Perec: But I believe it!

Believe it.