Cathy Freeman
Freeman in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 16 February 1973 Mackay, Queensland, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Kooralbyn International school Fairholme College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Sprint | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University team | University of Melbourne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Step-father Bruce Barber, Mike Danila, Peter Fortune | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1 July 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman OAM (born 16 February 1973) is an Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event.[2] Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set while finishing second to Marie-José Pérec's number-four time at the 1996 Olympics.[3] She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she had lit the Olympic Flame.[4]
Freeman was the first female Indigenous Australian to become a Commonwealth Games gold medalist at age 16 in 1990.[5] The year 1994 was her breakthrough season. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Freeman won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m. She also won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics and came first at the 1997 World Championships in the 400 m event. In 1998, Freeman took a break from running due to injury. She returned from injury in form with a first-place finish in the 400 m at the 1999 World Championships. She announced her retirement from athletics in 2003.
In 2007, she founded the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which changed names twice (to Community Spirit Foundation[6] and later to Murrup[7]). She is of the Kuku-yalanji and Birri-gubba peoples.[8]
- ^ "Cathy Freeman". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "Cathy Freeman: Running for her people". World Athletics. 8 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "Senior Outdoor 400 Metres Women". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ TorchRelay – Photos: Cathy Freeman lights the Olympic Flame Archived 13 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.
- ^ John Ashdown (11 January 2012). "50 stunning Olympic moments No9: Cathy Freeman wins gold for Australia". The Guardian.
- ^ "Our Story". Community Spirit Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "Murrup | Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation I home". Murrup. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ Australian Overseas Information Service (1993). "Olympic athlete Cathy Freeman". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 6 October 2024.