Electronic Telegraph Sunday 17 September 2000 Mark Reason MARIE-JOSE PEREC variously known as the Diva, the Black Gazelle or completely bonkers, has gone into Garboesque seclusion at these Olympics. Perec apparently believes that the world's media want to re-master her digitally so that she is available for 24-hour transmission. Consequently, she has barricaded her hotel room and is on the point of refusing to order French fries in case they contain hidden NBC micro-chips. There is something Grace Jones-like about the defending Olympic 400 metres champion, although Perec herself claims to be more like a Parisian Michael Jordan. The Diva's terror of television has not prevented her from turning nasty in the past when her sponsor's logo did not show up on screen during an interview. It seems that she wants to have her gateau and eat it. Perec's former coach, Francois Pepin, says: "She has a big ego and she thinks she is at the centre of the world." Former training partner, Ato Boldon, reckons that 'Miss Guadaloopy' left their training group because she ceased to be the centre of attention. What then would Perec make of Muhammad Ali's mantra on greatness which runs "Don't look down on those who look up to you"? This supremely gifted athlete and holder of the French Legion d'Honneur has not even succeeded in her determination not to be anybody's puppet. The French TV show Les Guignols, a Gallic Spitting Image, has already turned Perec into a Marie Antoinette of marionettes. Yet for all her posturing, perhaps Perec is not quite as paranoid as she seems. The accreditation of 15,000 print journalists and the provision of 25,000 wireless units is some indication that there might be a few interview requests during these Games. But it is the 4,800 kilometres of optical fibre between Olympic venues and the International Broadcast Centre which really demonstrate the power base of these Games. One official said: "I reckon there's nobody left in the USA. NBC has been given 3,000 accreditations for these Games and that's not including the support group already in place in Sydney. Fiji have two people accredited." The NBC representation is seven times bigger than the whole of the Great Britain Olympics team, including 200 officials. The American broadcaster is a monster that wants to take a sound-bite out of anyone who moves although, ironically, getting a comment out of NBC involves being passed along a long human chain before inevitably ending up with an answer machine. No wonder Perec sees a hidden camera in every baguette. The Big Brother aspect of the Olympics is now even incorporated into some of the events. The boxing venue has been fitted with four surveillance cameras costing about £60,000, which will hover above the judges and record all the their movements as they press the buttons to record scoring hits during bouts. The only sane spot amid all this visionary madness is to be found on Australia's Channel Ten. Because Australia's Olympic broadcasting rights are owned by Channel Seven, the rival network has come up with a strategy called The Gap. It works like this. Just before Ian Thorpe dives into the pool, an announcement on the screen will advise viewers to switch to Seven while Ten incorporates a seven-minute break into its programming. The network has scheduled 10 such seven-minute breaks and one of them is the final of the women's 400 metres. Will Perec's persecution never end. It was bad enough being a puppet, but no onedeserves to be a dill pickle filler between Homer Simpson hamburgers. Eamonn Condon WWW.RunnersGoal.com
