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AllFlying |
Profile:
Cathy Freeman
 In
a remote town in northern Queensland in 1973, a little girl was born. She grew
up racing her brother in the dirt. As a child, her step-father compared her to
a champion race horse. “Just the symmetry of her movement. She was just like
an uncut diamond,” Bruce Barber said. Cathy Freeman describes herself as
an “an eight-year-old ratbag with no shoes.”
This “ratbag”
became one of Australia's best known athletes and an effigy to female and aboriginal
achievement in this country. Cathy Freeman has a long list of accolades, starting
with the 1990 Commonwealth Games peaking ten years later at the Sydney Olympics.
By
the time Cathy was eleven years old she was known as 'the wonder girl' from Mackey
thanks to the attention of the Queensland media. At fourteen she set her sights
on making the Auckland Commonwealth Games team. Cathy ran the third leg of the
4x100m relay which Australia won. The 'wonder-girl,' at seventeen was a Commonwealth
Games gold medallist.
In 1992, Freeman was the first aboriginal athlete to
represent Australia in track and field at an Olympic Games. In Barcelona in 1992,
Freeman failed to make the semi-finals. She was disappointed but at such a young
age had much to look forward to.
Domestically, Freeman and rival Melinda Gainsford
battled it out on the track but it was at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada
that Cathy Freeman came of age. She won both the 400m and the 200m and caused
a media frenzy when she draped herself in both the Australian and Aboriginal flags
and ran a lap of honour.
Freeman wrote a time on a mirror prior to the Atlanta
1996 Olympics. This time she would have to run in order to compete with the world's
best. Freeman did more than compete, she challenged for the gold in the final
bend only to be edged out by Marie-Jose Perec in the home straight. This began
a rivalry with Perec, one that echoed right through until the 2000 Olympics.
The
aftermath of the Olympic saw Freeman beat Perec in Europe. Perec disappeared from
the international scene after the defeat. She pulled out of the next race after
being beaten by Freeman saying she did not race to come second or fifth.
Freeman
claimed her first World Title in Greece in 1997 but was forced to withdraw from
the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She successfully defended her World Title in Seville
in 1999 and then began preparation for her biggest challenge, Sydney 2000.
The
Sydney 2000 Olympics saw the return of Perec. The three-time Olympic gold medallist
came to defend her title. The media pumped up the Perec-Freeman rivalry and everything
was set for a huge showdown in front of Freeman's home crowd. Prior to the heats,
Perec fled the country. Rumours flew about stalkers in her hotel room, too much
media pressure, prima donna behaviour and injury. Whatever it was that unsettled
Perec and forced her to leave made Freeman a certain favourite.
Cathy Freeman
won her first Olympic gold medal in front of a capacity crowd at Stadium Australia.
She stopped the nation for just under a minute as she glided around the track.
The win was a relief for Freeman who had been feeling the pressure to perform.
In
2002 she won gold at the Manchester Commonwealth Games as part of the 4x400m relay
team. She retired on May 15, 2003 in London a double world champion, Olympic and
Commonwealth Games gold medallist, a thirteen time Australian champion, national
and Commonwealth record holder, and an Australian of the Year. QUICK
FACTS
Full Name: Catherine Freeman.
Birthdate and Place: 16 February, 1973,
Mackay Queensland.
Lives: Melbourne.
Hobbies: Writing, travelling and relaxing
at home with her two pet cats.
Favourite Food: Italian.
Favourite Music:
Ella Fitzgerald, Marty Robbins and ACDC.
Favourite Movie: The Wizard of Oz.
Favourite
TV Show: The Nanny, Frasier and Harry's Practice.
Favourite Part of the World:
North-western Australia and Tasmania.
Fact: Cathy was a regular at the Tasmanian
Christmas Carnival Series held at different venues all over northern part of the
state. She ran in handicapped races on grass where she sometimes gave away 30m
advantages to some local professionals. The name Cathy Freeman would pack local
athletic clubs on the nights she raced and Cathy always made time to run with
the children from the local Little Athletics club. Links
http://www.cathyfreeman.com.au/
http://www.athletics.org.au/athletes/profiles/profile.cfm?ObjectID=205
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/athletics-track/935452.stm
By
Leah Bound
Nov
2005
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