Athletics: Perec pulls out of champs

France's triple Olympic champion runner, Marie-Jose Perec, will not take part in the world athletics championships in Paris from August 23-31.

The 35-year-old, who has not raced since July 2000, has been troubled by sciatica.

Perec was the Olympic 400m champion at Barcelona in 1992 and completed a memorable 200m-400m double at the 1996 Atlanta Games. She fled Sydney before the 2000 Olympics, claiming she was being pursued by a stalker.