What is Cathy Freeman’s greatest achievement?
- Commonwealth Games Gold 1990.
- 2 x 400m World Champion.
- Gold medal in 400m 2000 Olympics.
- Silver Medal in 400m in 1996 Olympics.
- Three-time Olympian.
- Lit the Cauldron at 2000 Olympics.
What awards has Cathy Freeman won?
2001 - Laureus named Freeman Sportswoman. 2003 - Deadly Awards – Female Sportsperson of the Year. Cathy Freeman is a former Australian sprinter and Olympic medallist. She won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics followed by gold at the 2000 summer Olympics.
What did Cathy Freeman do in the Commonwealth Games?
1990 Commonwealth Games Cathy won a gold medal as a member of the 4 x 100 metres relay team. She became the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an international athletics event. Cathy Freeman won the 200 metres and the 400 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games .
Did Cathy Freeman win the Olympic 400m?
At the world championships, with Pérec a no-show, Freeman won the 400-metre gold in 49.77 seconds to retain her number one world ranking. Cathy Freeman taking a victory lap at the Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000. Popular both on and off the track, Freeman won the prestigious Australian of the Year honour in 1998.
What did Catherine Freeman do After retirement?
She lit the Olympic Flame at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Apart from that, she is honoured with the titles like Australian of the year, the World Sportswoman of the year and so on. She announced her retirement from athletics in 2003. After her retirement, she is involved with her non-profit organization, the Catherine Freeman Foundation.
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What were Cathy Freeman major achievements?
Memorable Performan... of the Year...Laureus World Sports Aw...Arthur Ashe Courage AwardCathy Freeman/Awards
How many awards and medals has Cathy Freeman won?
Catherine won 13 Australian titles from 100yds to 400m and set 8 individual Australian (open) records in the 200m and 400m, as well as the 4x400m relay. Catherine was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1990 and Australian of the Year in 1998 (the only person to ever be awarded both honours).
How did Cathy Freeman change the world?
She has inspired many young Indigenous Australians to strive for their goals. With her positive influence came the establishment of the Cathy Freeman Foundation in 2007 to help Indigenous children and families recognise the power of education and achieve their goals and dreams.
Why is Cathy Freeman so special?
In 1990 she made her first national team, as part of the Australian 4x100m relay team at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. They won, making Freeman the first-ever Aboriginal Commonwealth Games medallist at the age of just 16.
Who is the only athlete who ever lit the cauldron for in Olympics and then won a gold medal at those same games?
A native of Barcelona, Rebollo contracted polio in both legs when he was eight months old. 1996: In 1960, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) won the light heavyweight gold medal. He would later become heavyweight champion of the world. For the 1996 Games, he was chosen to light the cauldron.
Has Cathy Freeman won any awards?
Memorable Performan... of the Year...Laureus World Sports Aw...Arthur Ashe Courage AwardCathy Freeman/Awards
How is Cathy Freeman a role model?
Cathy Freeman is regarded as a role model for all Aboriginal people as she is the first Aboriginal Australian to receive international acclaim. The majority of Aboriginal people for many reasons aren't athletic as society claims, but Cathy Freeman she won her first gold metal when she was only 8 years old.
What did Cathy Freeman do for Australia?
Cathy's efforts were rewarded. She was the first Aboriginal person to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal (p. 40) and an open Australian track title, (p. 44) and the first Aboriginal woman to compete in the Olympics (Barcelona 1992).
What does the Cathy Freeman Foundation do?
Established in 2007, the Cathy Freeman Foundation empowers over 1600 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families in four remote communities (Palm Island, Woorabinda, Wurrumiyanga and Galiwin'ku ) to help them recognise the power of education and achieve their goals and dreams.
How old was Cathy Freeman when she won gold in 2000?
27 years oldAs a child Freeman loved running. From her teenage years she dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal. By 2000, when the Olympics came to Australia, she was 27 years old, and at the peak of her career.
How many Olympics did Cathy Freeman go to?
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....Cathy Freeman.Personal informationRetired1 July 200315 more rows
How much did Cathy Freeman make?
Freeman won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics for 400 m and also won gold at the 1997 World Championships in that event. After taking time off for injury she won gold at the 1999 World Championships in the 400 m....Cathy Freeman Net Worth.Net Worth:$4 MillionNationality:Australia4 more rows
How fast did Cathy Freeman run the 400m?
Only two women have beaten the 49-second mark over 400m since Pérec (48.25 seconds) and Freeman (48.63 seconds) did so in the final in Atlanta on 29 July 1996: American Sanya Richards-Ross in 2006 (48.70 seconds) – before she was crowned Olympic champion in London in 2012 – and Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo (48.97 ...
How old was Cathy Freeman when she won the Olympics?
As a child Freeman loved running. From her teenage years she dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal. By 2000, when the Olympics came to Australia, she was 27 years old, and at the peak of her career. Cathy Freeman during a sprint race at Olympic Park in Melbourne, December 1995.
Who won the Cathy Freeman race?
Freeman ran a measured race. On the final bend two other runners were close to her, but in the straight Cathy powered away to win by three metres. The pressure had been huge, but she had lived up to the nation’s dreams.
What did Freeman carry in the pool?
Dressed in a white fireproof bodysuit, Freeman carried the torch up several flights of stairs. Carefully treading on submerged steps, she walked into the centre of a pool of water. The cauldron which was to hold the flame during the games rose up around her, appearing to have been lit by the torch she was carrying.
Where was Cathy Freeman's mother from?
Cathy Freeman’s mother, Cecelia, of the Kuku Yalanji people, was born on Palm Island. Her father, Norman ‘Twinkletoes’ Freeman, of the Birra Gubba mob, was born at Woorabinda in Queensland.
When was Cathy Freeman in the 400m final?
Cathy Freeman competing in the final of the women’s 400 metres in Sydney on 25 September 2000
When did Sydney win the Commonwealth 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.
What was Cathy's accomplishment in the 1990 Commonwealth Games?
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS. 1990 Commonwealth Games Cathy won a gold medal as a member of the 4 x 100 metres relay team. She became the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an international athletics event.
When did Cathy win the 400m?
In 1997, at the World Athletic Championships in Athens, Greece, Cathy won the 400 metres sprint. At the World Athletic Championships in 1999, Cathy successfully defended her 400 metres. Cathy was chosen to light the Olympic torch at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney.
Who won the 400m?
Cathy Freeman won the 200 metres and the 400 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games . After her first win, Cathy ran a lap of honour carrying the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag.
When did Cathy Freeman win her first gold medal?
The young Aborigine, known as Cathy, won her first gold medal at a school athletics championship when she was eight years old. In 1993, Freeman was eliminated in the semi-finals of the World Championships.
When did Cathy Freeman retire?
In July 2003, Cathy Freeman officially announced her retirement. As an Aborigine, she is regarded as a role model for her people, and also seen by many as a symbol of national reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
When did Cathy Freeman retire?
She returned from injury in form with a first place 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.
What is 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, by offering incentives for children to attend school. It partners with the AIEF and the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Where did Freeman's father live?
Freeman's father, Norman Fisher, moved to the Aboriginal community of Woorabinda in Central Queensland when Freeman was five years old. Freeman had a long-term romantic relationship with Nick Bideau, her manager, that ended in acrimony and legal wranglings over Freeman's endorsement earnings.
Where did Freeman finish in the 1995 World Championships?
Although a medal favorite at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Sweden, Freeman finished fourth. She also reached the semi-finals of the 200 m.
Who was Cathy Freeman's first coach?
Cathy Freeman began athletics at the age of 5. Her first coach was her stepfather, Bruce Barber. By her early teens she had a collection of regional and national titles, having competed in the 100 m, 200 m, high jump and long jump.
Who won the 400m in 1997?
Pérec's winning time of 48.25 is the Olympic record and the third-fastest ever. In 1997, Freeman won the 400 m at the World Championships in Athens, with a time of 49.77 seconds. Her only loss in the 400 m that season was in Oslo where she injured her foot. Freeman took a break for the 1998 season, due to injury.
Who was the first Aboriginal Commonwealth Games gold medallist?
The team won the gold medal, making Freeman the first-ever Aboriginal 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.
Who is Cathy Freeman?
Cathy Freeman is a former Australian sprinter and Olympic medallist. She won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics followed by gold at the 2000 summer Olympics. In the early part of her life, she went through issues like racial discrimination. At a very young age, she dreamt of leaving a mark as a female athlete.
When did Catherine Freeman retire?
She announced her retirement from athletics in 2003. After her retirement, she is involved with her non-profit organization, the Catherine Freeman Foundation. Image Credit.
Where was Cathy Freeman born?
Born to Norman Freeman and Cecilia in Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Cathy Freeman spent her childhood with her brothers Gavin, Garth and Norman. She had a sister namely Anne Marie. Her parents got divorced in 1978. At the age of eight, she won her first gold medal at the school athletics championship.
Who was the woman who won the 400m in the 1996 Olympics?
During the 1996 Olympics, she posed the biggest challenge to Marie -Jose Perec of France. Trailing behind Perec, she won the silver medal and created the Australian record of 48.63 seconds. Continue Reading Below. In 1997, she successfully won the 400 m at the World Championships held in Athens.
Overview
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman OAM (born 16 February 1973) is an Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. 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. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at t…
Career
Cathy Freeman was successful in school athletics events. After 1987, she was coached by her stepfather, Bruce Barber, to various regional and national titles.
Following media attention, in 1987 Cathy moved to Kooralbyn International School to be coached professionally by Romanian Mike Danila, who later became a key influence throughout her career; he provided a strict training regi…
Post-athletic career
Since retiring from athletics Freeman has become involved in a range of community and charitable activities. She was an Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) until 2012.
Freeman was appointed as an Ambassador for Cottage by the Sea (a children's holiday camp in Queenscliffe, Victoria), alongside celebrity chef Curtis Stone and big-wave surfer Jeff Rowley. Fre…
Personal life
Freeman was born in 1973 at Slade Point, Mackay, Queensland, to Norman Freeman and Cecelia Barber. Norman was born in Woorabinda of the Birri Gubba people; Cecelia was born on Palm Island in Queensland, and is of Kuku Yalanji heritage. Freeman and her brothers Gavin, Garth, and Norman were raised in at 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 had cerebral palsy and spent much of …
Media
She joined with actress Deborah Mailman on a road trip, a four-part television documentary series Going Bush (2006) where the pair set off on a journey from Broome to Arnhem Land spending time with Indigenous communities along the way.
In 2008, Freeman participated in Who 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 th…
Awards
• Young Australian of the Year 1990
• Australian of the Year 1998
• Australian Sports Medal 2000
• Centenary Medal 2001
Further reading
• Freeman, Cathy (2007) Born to Run Melbourne, Penguin Books Australia. ISBN 9780143302384
• Hutcheon, Stephen (12 September 2020). "Tripping the flow: The clever physics hack behind Cathy Freeman's golden Olympic run". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
• McGregor, A. (1998) Cathy Freeman; A Journey Just Begun. Milsons Point, Random House Australia. ISBN 0-09-183649-2