Perec has not raced since before the 2000 Olympics

France's Marie-Jose Perec has set her sights on an August rematch with Cathy Freeman at the World Championships in Paris.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist fled Australia before the 2000 Games got underway after coming under intense media scrutiny.

But she told French sports daily l'Equipe she had finally shaken off her Sydney nightmare and was eager for a showdown.

The Guadeloupe-born 34-year-old said: "I needed a long period of mourning to get over the trauma of Sydney.

"But I now finally have done enough work to hold my own on the track.

"My ambition is to make the 400m final in Paris although I know there will be a lot of competition."

Cracked

Perec won the 400m Olympic gold at Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) as well as the 200m at the latter.

Her clash with Freeman at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was eagerly anticipated.

But Perec cracked under the media pressure and left Australia, with Freeman eventually winning the gold medal.

Perec had hardly been sighted since September 2000, spending most of her time in the Caribbean, but she is now training under Brooks Johnson in San Diego.

If the two Olympic gold medallists were to meet in Paris this August, it would be their first race together in seven years.

In their last encounter, Freeman edged out Perec at a meet in Brussels in 1996.