Cathy Freeman OAM
Website Cathy Freeman

Cathy Freeman OAM

Olympic Swimming Gold

Cathy Freeman in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremony. She then went on to win the gold medal in the 400m, realizing a life-long dream.

Cathy is a proud Kuku Yalanji woman who ran her first race when she was five and realised that she loved the way racing made her feel. She won her first gold medal at a School Athletics Championships when she was eight years old. ย 

Cathy was a member of the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, and in so doing became the first female Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal at an international athletics event. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1991 and a year later in Barcelona became the first Indigenous Australian to represent Australia at an Olympic Games.

Two years later, Cathy won gold in both the 200m and 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, she won silver with a personal best time in the 400m. She was crowned World Champion in the same event at the World Athletic Championships the following year, was awarded Australian of the Year in 1998, and was again World Champion in the 400m in 1999. ย 

Cathy’s most notable achievement, however, came in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Her image was beamed into millions of homes around the world when she became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. She then went on to win the gold medal in the 400m, realizing a life-long dream. ย 

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Cathy now concentrates her time on making a difference with others through the Cathy Freeman Foundation, where the focus is on helping Indigenous children experience their potential in school and beyond. The Cathy Freeman Foundation delivers five educational programs designed to inspire 1,600 children to realise their own gold medal journey. Since 2007, the Cathy Freeman Foundation has partnered with remote Indigenous communities and schools to help build education pathways that work. The Foundation currently works with seven schools in four remote Indigenous communities in Palm Island and Woorabinda (Queensland) and Galiwinโ€™ku and Wurrumiyanga (Northern Territory). In 2016, Cathy was appointed a member of the IOC Sport and Active Society Commission.

Along her way, Cathy has collected some major awards and honours. They include Australia of the Year in 1998, Australian Sports Medal in 2000, Centenary Medal in 2001, Medal of the Order of Australia, received the Olympic Order (from Juan Antonio Samaranch) & Sportswoman of the Year in 2001 and Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2005.

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