Cathy Freeman

Date

1994

Description

Creator of the image: Bill McAuley
Date of the image creation: 1994
Medium of the image: Photograph
Person depicted: Cathy Freeman

Born in regional Queensland, Australia in 1973, Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman became a sprinter who went on to become perhaps the most famous Australia woman in the world. She recalls from her childhood the sense of freedom she felt when ‘running around in the sunshine without any shoes on’. Both her father and grandfather were talented rugby league players who had opportunities to represent Australia. However, Freeman reflected: ‘Unfortunately because of the laws of the day, they weren't allowed to. And that's another reason why I was so determined to be the best I could be in running and sport’.

Freeman specialized in the 400-metre sprint race and, in 1990, at age 16 she became the first Aboriginal Australian to become a Commonwealth Games gold medallist. At the next games in 1994 in Canada, she won both the 200-metre and the 400-metre races. This photograph, shot by Bill McAuley, was captured shortly thereafter. It is held by the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.

The height of Freeman’s fame was reached at the Sydney Olympics Summer Games in the year 2000. Freeman was the Olympic torch-bearer for the opening ceremony and went on to win the gold medal at the 400m. Before a crowd of over 100,000 people — the largest attendance for any sport in the Game’s history — Freeman ran her victory lap of the stadium wrapped in both the Australian national flag and the Aboriginal flag.

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