.jpg) Freeman in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman |
| Born | (1973-02-16)16 February 1973 (age 52) 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 | |
| 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 FreemanOAM (born 16 February 1973) is anAustralian formersprinter, who specialised in the400 metres event.[2] Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the11th-fastest woman of all time, set while finishing second toMarie-José Pérec's number-six time at the1996 Olympics.[3] She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the2000 Summer Olympics, at which she had lit theOlympic Flame.[4]
Freeman was the first femaleIndigenous Australian to become a Commonwealth Gamesgold medalist at age 16 in 1990.[5] The year 1994 was her breakthrough season. At the1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Freeman won gold in both the200 m and 400 m. She also won thesilver medal at the 1996 Olympics and came first at the1997 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 the1999 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 was successful in school athletics events. After 1987, she was coached by her stepfather, Bruce Barber, to various regional and national titles.[9]
In 1987, Freeman moved toKooralbyn International School to be coached professionally by Romanian Mike Danila, who later became a key influence throughout her career; he provided a strict training regime for the young athlete.[9][10][11][12]
In 1988, she was awarded a scholarship to an exclusive girls' school,Fairholme College[13] inToowoomba. In a competition in 1989, Freeman ran 11.67 s in the 100 metres and Danila began to think about entering her in the Commonwealth Games Trials in Sydney.[9]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1990, Freeman was chosen as a member of Australia's4 × 100 m relay team for the1990 Commonwealth Games inAuckland, New Zealand. The team won the gold medal, making Freeman the first-everAboriginal Commonwealth Games gold medallist, as well as one of the youngest, at 16 years old. She moved to Melbourne in 1990 after the Auckland Commonwealth Games. Shortly after moving to Melbourne, her manager Nic Bideau introduced Freeman to athletics coach Peter Fortune, who would become Freeman's coach for the rest of her career. She was then selected to represent Australia at the1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics inPlovdiv, Bulgaria. There, she reached the semi-finals of the 100 m and placed fifth in the final of the 200 m.
Freeman competed in her secondWorld Junior Championships inSeoul, South Korea. She competed only in the 200 m, winning the silver medal behind China's Hu Ling. Also in 1992, she travelled to herfirst Olympic Games inBarcelona, reaching the second round of her new specialty event, the400 metres, and finishing 7th as part of the Australian team in the women's4 × 400 m relay finals. At the1993 World Championships in Athletics Freeman competed in the 200 m, reaching the semi-finals.
1994 was Freeman's breakthrough season, when she entered into the world's elite for the first time. Competing at the1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Freeman won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m. She also competed as a member of Australia's 4 × 100 m squad, winning the silver medal and as a member of the 4 × 400 m team, who finished first but were later disqualified after Freeman obstructed the Nigerian runner. During the 1994 season, Freeman took 1.3 seconds from her 400 m personal best, achieving 50.04 seconds. She also set all-time personal bests in the 100 m (11.24) and 200 m (22.25).
Although a medal favourite at the1995 World Championships in Athletics in Sweden, Freeman finished fourth. She also reached the semi-finals of the 200 m.
Freeman made more progress during the 1996 season, setting many personal bests and Australian records. By this stage, she was the biggest challenger toFrance'sMarie-José Pérec at the1996 Olympics.[14] She eventually took the silver medal behind Pérec, in an Australian record of 48.63 seconds. This was the fourth-fastest since the world record was set inCanberra, Australia, in 1985.[3] Pérec's winning time of 48.25 was anOlympic record.[3]
In 1997, Freeman won the 400 m at theWorld Championships in Athens, with a time of 49.77 seconds. Her only loss in the 400 m that season was inOslo where she injured her foot.[citation needed]
Freeman took a break for the 1998 season, due to injury. Upon her return to the track in 1999, Freeman did not lose a single 400 m race, including at theWorld Championships.[15]
Freeman also lit the torch in the2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.[16]
She continued to win into the 2000 season, despite Pérec's return to the track. Freeman was the home favourite for the 400 m title at the2000 Olympics in Sydney, where she was expected to face-off with rival Pérec. This showdown never happened, as Pérec left the Games after what she described as harassment from strangers.[17][18] Freeman won the Olympic title in a time of 49.11 seconds, becoming only the second Australian Aboriginal Olympic champion (the first was Freeman's4 × 400 teammateNova Peris-Kneebone who won forfield hockey four years earlier in Atlanta).[19] After the race, Freeman took a victory lap, carrying both theAboriginal andAustralian flags. This was despite unofficial flags being banned at the Olympic Games, and the Aboriginal flag, while recognised as official in Australia, not being anational flag or recognised by theInternational Olympic Committee.[20][21] Freeman also reached the final of the 200 m, coming sixth.[22] In honour of her gold medal win in Sydney, she represented Oceania in carrying the Olympic flag at the opening ceremonies of thenext Olympics, inSalt Lake City, joining ArchbishopDesmond Tutu (Africa),John Glenn (The Americas),Kazuyoshi Funaki (Asia),Lech Wałęsa (Europe),Jean-Michel Cousteau (Environment),Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), andSteven Spielberg (Culture).[citation needed]
Throughout her career, Freeman regularly competed in theVictorian Athletic League where she won two 400 m races at theStawell Gift Carnival.[23]Freeman did not compete during the 2001 season. In 2002 she returned to the track to compete as a member of Australia's victorious4 × 400 m relay team at the2002 Commonwealth Games.
Freeman announced her retirement in 2003.[24]
Since retiring from athletics Freeman has become involved in a range of community and charitable activities. She was an Ambassador of theAustralian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) until 2012.[25]
Freeman was appointed as an Ambassador for Cottage by the Sea (a children's holiday camp in Queenscliffe, Victoria), alongside celebrity chefCurtis Stone and big-wave surferJeff Rowley. Freeman retired from her position as Patron after 10 years in 2014.[26]
In 2007 Freeman founded the Cathy Freeman Foundation. The Foundation works with four remote Indigenous communities to close the gap in education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children,[27] by offering incentives for children to attend school.[28] It partners with the AIEF and theBrotherhood of St Laurence.[29]
Freeman was born in 1973 at Slade Point,Mackay,Queensland, to Norman Freeman and Cecelia Barber.[30] Norman was born inWoorabinda of theBirri Gubba people; Cecelia was born onPalm Island in Queensland, and is ofKuku Yalanji heritage. Moreover, Freeman also hasSyrian ancestry.[31][32][33] Freeman and her brothers Gavin, Garth, and Norman were raised in Mackay and in other parts of Queensland. She also had an older sister, Anne-Marie, who was born in 1966 and died in 1990. Anne-Marie hadcerebral palsy and spent much of her life in the Birribi care facility inRockhampton.[30]
Freeman attended several schools, including schools in Mackay and Coppabella, but was mostly educated atFairholme College inToowoomba where she attended after winning a scholarship to board there.[34]
Freeman's parents divorced in 1978,[35] after which her father returned to Woorabinda.[34]
Freeman has described how she has been influenced by early experiences with racism and also by theBaháʼí Faith.[30] She was raised aCatholic, and says of her faith, "I'm not a devout Catholic but I like the prayers and I appreciate their values about the equality of all human kind."[36][37]
Freeman had a long-term romantic relationship with Nick Bideau, her manager, that ended in acrimony and legal wranglings over Freeman's endorsement earnings.[38][39] Freeman married Alexander "Sandy" Bodecker, aNike executive 20 years her senior, in 1999. After her success in Sydney she took an extended break from the track to nurse Bodecker through a bout of throat cancer from May to October 2002.[40] She announced their separation in February 2003. Later that year, Freeman began dating Australian actorJoel Edgerton whom she had initially met at the 2002TV WeekLogies. Their relationship ended in early 2005.[41]
In October 2006, Freeman announced her engagement to Melbourne stockbroker James Murch.[42] They married at Spray Farm on theBellarine Peninsula on 11 April 2009.[43] Freeman gave birth to her first child in 2011.[44] In August 2024 Freeman and Murch announced their separation.[45]
Freeman is a supporter ofNational Rugby League team theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks andAustralian Football League team theCarlton Blues.[46] Freeman was also a part of the "Group of 14" who backed the return of theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs to the NRL following their exclusion in 2000 and 2001.[47]
On 10 October 2023, Freeman was one of 25Australians of the Year who signed anopen letter supporting the Yes vote in theIndigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatristPatrick McGorry.[48][49]
She joined with actressDeborah Mailman on aroad trip, a four-part television documentary seriesGoing Bush (2006) where the pair set off on a journey fromBroome toArnhem Land spending time with Indigenous communities along the way.[citation needed]
In 2008, Freeman participated inWho Do You Think You Are? and discovered that her mother was of Chinese and English heritage as well as Aboriginal. As a result of a 1917 Queensland policy that Aboriginal people could serve in the military if they had a European parent, her paternal great-grandfather, Frank Fisher served in the11th Light Horse Regiment duringWorld War I.[35][50]
On her right arm, the side closest to the spectators on an athletics track, she had the words "Cos I'm free" tattooed midway between her shoulder and elbow.[51]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Australia | |||||
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.87 |
| World Junior Championships | Plovdiv,Bulgaria | 15th (sf) | 100 m | 11.87(wind: -1.3 m/s) | |
| 5th | 200 m | 23.61(wind: +1.3 m/s) | |||
| 5th | 4 × 100 m relay | 45.01 | |||
| 1992 | Summer Olympics | Barcelona, Spain | 7th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.42 |
| World Junior Championships | Seoul,South Korea | 2nd | 200 m | 23.25(wind: +0.3 m/s) | |
| 6th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:36.28 | |||
| 1994 | Commonwealth Games | Victoria Canada | 1st | 200 m | 22.25 |
| 1st | 400 m | 50.38 | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.43 | |||
| IAAF Grand Prix Final | Paris, France | 2nd | 400 m | 50.04 | |
| 1995 | World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 4th | 400 m | 50.60 |
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:25.88 | |||
| 1996 | Summer Olympics | Atlanta, United States | 2nd | 400 m | 48.63 |
| IAAF Grand Prix Final | Milan, Italy | 1st | 400 m | 49.60 | |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 1st | 400 m | 49.77 |
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 1st | 400 m | 49.67 |
| 6th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:28.04 | |||
| World Indoor Championships | Maebashi, Japan | 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.87 | |
| 2000 | Summer Olympics | Sydney, Australia | 6th | 200 m | 22.53 |
| 1st | 400 m | 49.11 | |||
| 5th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:23.81 | |||
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, Great Britain | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:25.63 |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Australian Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 2nd | 100 m |
| 1990 | Australian Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 3rd | 200 m |
| 1991 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 200 m |
| 1992 | Australian Championships | Adelaide, Australia | 2nd | 200 m |
| 1992 | Australian Championships | Adelaide, Australia | 3rd | 400 m |
| 1993 | Australian Championships | Queensland, Australia | 2nd | 200 m |
| 1994 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 100 m |
| 1994 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 200 m |
| 1995 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 2nd | 200 m |
| 1995 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| 1996 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 100 m |
| 1996 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 200 m |
| 1997 | Australian Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 2nd | 200 m |
| 1997 | Australian Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| 1998 | Australian Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| 1999 | Australian Championships | Melbourne, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| 2000 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 200 m |
| 2000 | Australian Championships | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| 2003 | Australian Championships | Brisbane, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Golden League 2000 – Exxon Mobil Bislett Games | Oslo, Norway | 1st | 400 m |
| 2000 | Golden League 2000 – Herculis Zepter | Monaco | 1st | 400 m |
| 2000 | Golden League 2000 – Meeting Gaz de France de Paris | Paris, France | 1st | 200 m |
| 2000 | Golden League 2000 – Memorial Van Damme | Brussels, Belgium | 1st | 400 m |
| 2000 | Grand Prix 2000 –Athletissima 2000 | Lausanne, Switzerland | 1st | 400 m |
| 2000 | Grand Prix 2000 – CGU Classic | Gateshead, Great Britain | 1st | 200 m |
| 2000 | Grand Prix 2000 – Melbourne Track Classic | Melbourne, Australia | 1st | 400 m |
| 2000 | Grand Prix 2000 – Tsiklitiria Meeting | Athens, Greece | 1st | 400 m |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World Sportswoman of the Year 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by | Final Olympic torchbearer Sydney 2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Final Summer Olympic torchbearer Sydney 2000 | Succeeded by |
|
Commonwealth Games champions in women's200 metres | |
|---|---|
| 220 yards (1934–1966) | |
| 200 metres (1970–present) |
|
Commonwealth Games champions in women's400 metres | |
|---|---|
| 440 yards (1966) | |
| 400 metres (1970–present) |
|
Commonwealth Games champions in women's4 × 100 metres relay | |
|---|---|
| 4 × 110 yards (1954–1966) | |
| 4 × 100 metres (1970–present) |
|
Commonwealth Games champions in women's4 × 400 metres relay | |
|---|---|
|
