A quarter of a century on from her iconic feat at the Sydney Olympic Games, Cathy Freeman is still harnessing lessons learnt in perseverance on the track to inform her social advocacy.
One of Australia’s celebrated athletes, Ms Freeman is an Olympic gold and silver medalist, two-time world champion and four-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
Speaking at the Ready25 conference in Sydney on Thursday, Ms Freeman reflected on her athletic career and its impact on her work to broaden opportunities for First Nations children.
It was Ms Freeman’s stepfather who first encouraged her running at the tender age of 10 at their home in Mackay, Queensland.
“My stepdad said I looked like a horse when I ran,” she said. “I think what he meant was that I had this fluidity to my stride and I was relaxed when I moved.
“He encouraged me and wrote a sign that read, ‘I am the world's greatest athlete’. He was a first of many along the journey to believe in my potential to be to be a good runner.”
At age 16, Ms Freeman became the first female Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Her breakthrough season four years later propelled her to a further two gold medals before making her Olympic debut.
Cathy Freeman speaking at Ready25 alongside fellow Olympic gold medalist, Saya Sakakibara. Picture: supplied.
After placing second in her signature 400m sprint event at the 1996 Olympic Games, struggles off the track saw Ms Freeman come close to quitting her dream to be the world’s greatest.
“We all had private moments where life gets a little bit wobbly and for me, one of those was this,” she said. “Coming off the back of the silver medal in Atlanta, things were starting to get really serious. People around me were starting to say I had a real shot, that Sydney was only four years away.
“In the private zone of my life though, I went through a personal crisis. We all have those days where we feel like giving up, and we have identity crisis days. I nearly gave up, nearly decided to not do the 1997 season.”
Thanks to her strong relationships with her core team of coaches, managers and teammates, Ms Freeman was convinced to carry on.
Cathy Freeman at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada. Picture: Tony Feder /Allsport
“I got up, kept going, and I won my first world title in 1997,” she said. “If I hadn't have won that first world title – one of two – I may not have had that momentum and that confidence in myself when it came to lining up in Sydney.”
Learning how to infuse joy into everyday life is a lesson Ms Freeman says helps make the load lighter and allowed her to keep moving forward.
“I think you have two choices in life, and I've always been that sort of person who would rather just give it a go than not.”
Ms Freeman brought the same tenacity with her into her win at the 2000 Olympics and into perhaps her most notable action of her career immediately afterwards.
Cathy Freeman at the 1996 Olympic Games. Picture: Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis
In an iconic decision, Ms Freeman carried both the Australian and the Aboriginal flags during her victory ceremony.
This powerful statement about identity, inclusion, and reconciliation set the foundation for the charity work that would follow.
Reflecting on her home Olympics win, Ms Freeman said she had fulfilled more than one dream.
“The Olympic gold medal was part of it, and doing the victory lap with both Australian flags was part of the dreaming,” she said. “I did everything in my power, with all my power, to ensure that it occurred.”
Cathy Freeman carries the Australian and Aboriginal flags after winning gold at the 2000 Olympic Games. Picture: Henri Szwarc/Bongarts/Getty Images
Early lessons from her family and community helped shape Ms Freeman for the moment.
“I was always encouraged to be authentic in my life, whatever shape that looks like,” she said. “Whatever that feels like to others, is of no consequence to me.
“It is really important to be true to who you are because from out of that self exploration, awareness of potential flourish.”
After retiring in 2003, reaching for new opportunities to learn and grow became the centre of Ms Freeman’s personal ethos.
An image of Cathy Freeman projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
In 2003, the Cathy Freeman Foundation was born. The Aboriginal community organisation supports First Nations children in their homes, in their neighbourhoods and in their school environments.
As of 2007, the organisation adopted the Wurunjeri word for ‘spirit’, becoming Murrup.
“I'm always interested in unforeseen potential and young people,” she said. “It's the future, and I think we all should invest in young people, it's only going to make this country a better one.”
“Indigenous youth are four times the rate of non-Indigenous folk in terms of youth suicide,” she added. “That is something I'm most interested in.”
Connecting back to her sporting roots, Ms Freeman says the increased focus on mental resilience and the importance of mental health among young athletes is vital.
“I'm a big believer in getting it out of your system and sharing your innermost fears, dreams, insecurities with those who you know are there right next to you to lean on,” she said.
“National teams are now addressing mental health issues, which is phenomenal, which is fantastic,” she said. “This whole idea of vulnerability that Simone Biles spoke so beautifully to, is really important to address those sorts of issues.
“At the end of the day, we're all human beings trying to do the best we can.”
Cathy Freeman wins women's 400 meters final in Sydney, Australia in September 2000. Picture: Pool JO SYDNEY 2000/Gamma-Rapho.
While 25 years has passed since Ms Freeman became Australia’s Olympic icon, she isn’t tired of reliving her experience.
“Sentimental folk often like to share the memories with me and it’s always lovely when you walk down memory lane,” she said. “As the years go by, the memory gets clearer, interestingly enough. At the time it occurred, it was all a total wave of everything and everyone.
“Now, 25 years later, I'm a lot gentler with myself in it all. I feel really honored to have been part of the history.”
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