LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Olympic champion Donovan Bailey is hoping to prove that last week's 9.98 performance was no fluke when he competes at Wednesday's Athletissima track meet.

  Bailey, who has had mixed results since suffering a career-threatening Achilles tendon injury almost two years ago, showed a glimpse of his old form, running 9.98 into an unfavourable wind last Tuesday. The time equalled the second-fastest this year, second only to world champion Maurice Greene who had a 9.91.

  It marked Bailey's first time less than 10 seconds since his injury, the Canadian still searching for the form which took him to world title in 1995 and Olympic gold in 1996.

  Bailey will have a chance Wednesday to confirm his return to form against a top flight field that has four of the eight finalists from last year's worlds in Seville, Spain including Britain's Jason Gardener and Dwain Chambers, the reigning world championship bronze medallist.

  Trinidad's Ato Boldon, forced out of last year's worlds due to injury, will also line up against Bailey, whose world record was broken by Greene last year.

  "I'm a lot faster now than in 1996 when I won in Atlanta," said Bailey. "I've had the best winter training. I worked my butt off.

  "I haven't raced much this season so I'm still in great form."

  With its lightning quick track, the Pontaise should prove to be a perfect motivator for Bailey.

  The oval is one of the fastest in the world, and consistently produces some of the top times of the year.

  "Lausanne is always one of the big meets for the big sprinters," Bailey said. "You can always measure yourself against the top guys.

  "I can always run very fast here. It'll be a good measuring rod to see where I am now."

  Meanwhile, France's Marie Jose Perec and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine will also be looking to prove their fitness ahead of the Sydney Olympics.

  Dogged by illness since her double gold at the Atlanta Games, Perec missed all of last season and will launch yet another comeback in the 200 metres before tackling the longer 400 metres three days later for the first time since 1996.

  The competition marks Perec's first 200 metres in almost a year, her last race in the distance dating back to July 28, 1999, when she finished second in 23.65 in Lahti, Finland.

  With no 200-metre race originally scheduled for Lausanne, organizers included the event especially for the French sprinter. Its late addition to the schedule means most of the world's top names won't be there, though Perec can expect solid opposition in the form of Muriel Hurtis and Nigerians Fatima Yusuf and Mercy Nku.

  "I'll be with women who run 22.6. That's good," Perec said. "I don't like to make any predictions, especially for a comeback. But you can't expect anything extraordinary, nothing like 22.1."

  Perec has been plagued with injury and illness for almost four years, struggling to recover from the Epstein-Barr virus, a rare blood disease which manifests itself by chronic fatigue.

  "I want to race and I'm anxious to see where I am," Perec said. "At the same time I feel the pressure mounting."

  Six-time pole vault world champion Bubka is making his own return Wednesday.

  The 36-year-old Ukrainian was forced to pull out of the worlds last August on medical advice following surgery on his Achilles tendon, surrendering his crown to Russian Maksim Tarasov, who will be in Wednesday's field along with Australia's Dmitriy Markov, the silver medallist in Seville.