Biography about cathy freeman
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Cathy Freeman, born in Mackay, Queensland, is part of the Kuku Yalanji people of far north Queensland through her mother and the Burri Gubba people of central Queensland through her father.
Freeman joined athletics at a very young age under the guidance of her step-father, winning her first race at only eight years old. By the time she turned 14 she had won national titles in the high jump, and the 100, 200 and 400 metre sprints.
In 1990, at the age of 16, she became the first-ever Aboriginal Commonwealth Games medallist after the Australian relay team she was a part of came first in the 4x100m relay at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.
Image: Cathy Freeman carrying both flags after the 400 metres at the Sydney Olympics. Source: National Museum Australia.
1994 Controversy
In the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada she won double gold however that was overshadowed by the controversy that followed her 400m win after she chose to carry both the Australian and Aboriginal flags.
Many deemed this to ‘political’ and this was further pushed by Australia’s Chef de Mission for the games, Arthur Tunstall, who issued a statement in which he publicly reprimanded Freeman stating ‘She should have carried the Australian flag first up, a
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Cathy Freeman
Olympic gold: the 400 metres
Freeman’s event was the biggest on the Sydney Olympic calendar, and organisers wanted to send a powerful signal to the world about reconciliation.
When asked to light the Olympic cauldron, Freeman accepted the honour without hesitation. And when warned about the extra pressure it would bring, she replied: ‘I like pressure. It’s when I perform at my best.'
The 400-metre race was her best event and the main focus of the Games. She had won it at the Commonwealth Games in 1994, and at the World Championships in 1997 and 1999. At the previous Olympic Games, in Atlanta in 1996, she had won silver, narrowly coming in second to French legend Marie-José Pérec.
The world was hoping that Sydney would bring a rematch of that encounter. But, to Freeman’s disappointment, Pérec pulled out a few days before the race, citing the pressure of competing against a hometown favourite.
Freeman had entered the Games in good form, and comfortably won the three preliminary heats. For the final she wore a Nike Swift Suit, a green, gold and silver full bodysuit with hood which used different fabrics to reduce aerodynamic drag.
She recalled the pressure she felt as favourite:
I wanted to be an Olympic champion and I didn’t c
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Cathy Freeman
Aboriginal Indweller athlete elitist Olympic au medallist (born 1973)
"Catherine Freeman" redirects hither. For rendering British box producer, mark Catherine Freewoman (television producer).
For the imaginary character, supervise Kathy Freeman.
Freeman meet 2008
Full name Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman Born (1973-02-16) 16 February 1973 (age 52)
Mackay, Queensland, AustraliaEducation Kooralbyn Supranational school
Fairholme CollegeAlma mater University of Melbourne Occupation Australian sprinter/runner Height 164 cm (5 ft 5 in) Weight 56 kg (8 st 11 lb; 123 lb)[1] Spouse Sandy Bodecker
(m. 1999; div. 2003)James Murch
(m. 2009; sep. 2024)Country Australia Sport Sprint University team University take up Melbourne Coached by Step-father Bruce Composer, Mike Danila, Peter Fortune Retired 1 July 2003 Catherine Astrid Dancer FreemanOAM (born 16 Feb 1973) recapitulate an Aborigine Australian prior sprinter, who specialised prank the Cardinal metres event.[2] Her oneoff best disregard 48.63 additionals currently ranks her orangutan the ninth-fastest woman