PARIS, France (AFP) — Marie-Jose Perec was rewarded for her career as France’s greatest track athlete when she lit the Paris Olympics cauldron along with judo triple gold medalist Teddy Riner on Friday.

Between them, Perec and Riner have won six Olympic golds — and what better pairing for a Games that prides itself on gender parity among competitors?

Perec, 56, achieved the 200m-400m double at the 1996 Atlanta Games after winning 400m gold at Barcelona in 1992, earning her the nickname of “The Gazelle.”

In being awarded the ultimate honor at any Olympics, Perec beamed as she emulated her hero Muhammad Ali who lit the cauldron in Atlanta.

Riner, 35, who like Perec was born in the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, will compete at his home Olympics aiming to win his fourth Olympic title.

The search for that gold “is what drives me, that is what I live for,” he said.

Riner won the heavyweight title at the 2012 and 2016 Games and then the team gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, adding bronze medals in 2008 and 2021.

As Perec lit the cauldron — which formed the base of a hot-air balloon that will float above the Tuileries Gardens during the Games — she could have been forgiven of thinking not only of Ali but also her maternal grandmother Eleonore.

When Marie-Jose was six in her birthplace of Guadeloupe, it was Eleanore who sparked her interest in the boxing legend.

“One day in 1974, she called us together, with my brothers, sisters and cousins to listen on the radio to a title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman,” Perec told Le Monde in a rare interview in June.

“She listened to the radio permanently, but it was the only time she summoned all of us. When it was over, I saw her get up and dance joyously.”

Eleonore knew nothing about boxing but it was Ali and his personality that left an imprint on her.

“Muhammad Ali represented to her a savior,” Perec said.

“She was interested by his personality, his manner of imposing himself on the world via sport, to always keep his head up.”

“She always told us: ‘If you fall, you keep your head up.’”