Editing Cathy Freeman (section)

==Career==
===Prior to 1987===
Cathy Freeman was successful in school athletics events. After 1987, she was coached by her stepfather, Bruce Barber, to various regional and national titles.<ref name=Page50>{{cite web
|url=http://www.holidayhunter.com.au/indigenous/page50.html
|title=Cathy Freeman, Athlete}}</ref>

===1987–1989===
In 1987, Freeman 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 regime for the young athlete.<ref name=Page50/><ref>[http://living.oneindia.in/celebrity/sports/kathy-freeman-profile-olympic-games.html Cathy Freeman: The athletic proud of Australia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227084428/http://living.oneindia.in/celebrity/sports/kathy-freeman-profile-olympic-games.html |date=27 February 2009 }}</ref><ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/2996526/Athletics-Making-of-a-legend.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/2996526/Athletics-Making-of-a-legend.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live
|title=Athletics: Making of a legend |author=Sebastian Coe |author-link=Sebastian Coe |date=14 January 2001 |access-date=21 April 2008| location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="news">{{cite web |author=Eamonn Condon |url=http://www.mail-archive.com/t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu/msg10373.html
|title=Freeman, still on the top of the world |work=[[The Electronic Telegraph]] |date=27 May 2001 |access-date=10 March 2008}}</ref>

In 1988, she was awarded a scholarship to an exclusive girls' school, [[Fairholme College]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/cathy-freeman |title=Cathy Freeman
|date=3 June 2015 |website=aiatsis.gov.au |access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> in [[Toowoomba]]. 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.<ref name=Page50/>

===1990–1995===
In 1990, Freeman was chosen as a member of Australia's [[4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]] team for the [[1990 Commonwealth Games]] in [[Auckland]], New Zealand. The team won the gold medal, making Freeman the first-ever [[Aboriginal Australians|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. 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 the [[1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics]] in [[Plovdiv]], 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 second [[1992 World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]] in [[Seoul]], South Korea. She competed only in the 200 m, winning the silver medal behind China's Hu Ling. Also in 1992, she travelled to her [[1992 Summer Olympics|first Olympic Games]] in [[Barcelona]], reaching the second round of her new specialty event, the [[400 metres]], and finishing 7th as part of the Australian team in the women's [[4 × 400 metres relay|{{nowrap|4 × 400 m}} relay]] finals. At the [[1993 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 the [[1994 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 the [[1995 World Championships in Athletics]] in Sweden, Freeman finished fourth. She also reached the semi-finals of the 200 m.

===1996–2003===
Freeman made more progress during the 1996 season, setting many personal bests and Australian records. By this stage, she was the biggest challenger to [[France]]'s [[Marie-José Pérec]] at the [[1996 Summer Olympic Games|1996 Olympics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportbible.com/australia/news-the-top-10-greatest-olympic-moments-of-all-time-20210721|title = The Top 10 Greatest Olympic Moments of All-Time| date=21 July 2021 }}</ref> 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 in [[Canberra]], Australia, in 1985.<ref name =WorldAthletics /> Pérec's winning time of 48.25 was an [[List of Olympic records in athletics|Olympic record]].<ref name =WorldAthletics />

In 1997, Freeman won the 400 m at the [[1997 World Championships in Athletics|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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barber|first1=Step-father Bruce|last2=Danila|first2=Mike|last3=Auckl|first3=Peter Fortune Retired 1 July 2003 Medal record Women's athletics Representing Australia Olympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney 400 m Silver 1996 Atlanta 400 m World Championships Gold 1997 Athens 400 m Gold 1999 Seville 400 m Bronze 1995 Gothenburg 4 × 400 m relay Commonwealth Games Gold 1990|last4=m|first4=4 × 100 m Gold 1994 Victoria 200 m Gold 1994 Victoria 400 m Gold 2002 Manchester 4 × 400 m Silver 1994 Victoria 4 × 100|title=Cathy Freeman Facts for Kids|url=https://facts.kiddle.co/Cathy_Freeman|access-date=2020-10-14|website=facts.kiddle.co|language=en-us}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2024}}<sup>This is a mirror site. Please replace with better source.</sup>

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 the [[1999 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics/australia/cathy-freeman-274/defends-world-championship-400m-crown-in-seville_a08106/|title=Cathy FREEMAN – Australia – Defends World Championship 400m crown in Seville|website=sporting-heroes.net|access-date=1 August 2021}}</ref>

Freeman also lit the torch in the [[2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Olympic Games]] in Sydney.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/freeman_cathy,15499.html|title=Cathy Freeman|date=14 June 2005|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-date=19 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219090123/https://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/freeman_cathy,15499.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Cathy Freeman 2000 olympics.jpg|thumb|Freeman preparing to race in the Olympic 400&nbsp;m final, Sydney 2000.]]

She continued to win into the 2000 season, despite Pérec's return to the track. Freeman was the home favourite for the 400&nbsp;m title at the [[2000 Summer Olympics|2000 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics2000/athletics-track/934839.stm|title=Perec out of Olympics|publisher=BBC Sport|date=22 September 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=SYDNEY 2000; Perec Says Fear Overwhelmed Her|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/sports/sydney-2000-perec-says-fear-overwhelmed-her.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=29 September 2000|url-access=registration}}</ref> Freeman won the Olympic title in a time of 49.11 seconds, becoming only the second Australian Aboriginal Olympic champion (the first was Freeman's {{Nowrap|4 × 400}} teammate [[Nova Peris|Nova Peris-Kneebone]] who won for [[Field hockey at the 1996 Summer Olympics|field hockey four years earlier]] in Atlanta).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE2289b.htm|title=Peris, Nova Maree – Woman – The Australian Women's Register|first=National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of|last=Melbourne|website=womenaustralia.info|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> After the race, Freeman took a victory lap, carrying both the [[Australian Aboriginal Flag|Aboriginal]] and [[Flag of Australia|Australian flags]]. This was despite unofficial flags being banned at the Olympic Games, and the Aboriginal flag, while recognised as official in Australia, not being a [[national flag]] or recognised by the [[International Olympic Committee]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Indigenous leaders want officials to drop ban on flags|url=http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/off-the-field/indigenous-leaders-want-officials-to-drop-ban-on-flags-20120731-23d74.html|access-date=2 May 2013|newspaper=The Age|date=1 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Olympic flags rule sparks anger|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7542761.stm|access-date=2 May 2013|publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=5 August 2008}}</ref> Freeman also reached the final of the 200&nbsp;m, coming sixth.<ref>[[David Wallechinsky|Wallechinsky, David]]; Loucky, Jaime. ''The Complete Book of the Olympics''. [[Aurum Press]], 2008, p. 300.</ref> In honour of her gold medal win in Sydney, she represented Oceania in carrying the Olympic flag at the opening ceremonies of the [[2002 Winter Olympics|next Olympics]], in [[Salt Lake City]], joining Archbishop [[Desmond Tutu]] (Africa), [[John Glenn]] (The Americas), [[Kazuyoshi Funaki]] (Asia), [[Lech Wałęsa]] (Europe), [[Jean-Michel Cousteau]] (Environment), [[Jean-Claude Killy]] (Sport), and [[Steven Spielberg]] (Culture).{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

Throughout her career, Freeman regularly competed in the [[Victorian Athletic League]] where she won two 400&nbsp;m races at the [[Stawell Gift]] Carnival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stawellgift.com/hall-of-fame/did-you-know/|title=Top Ten Trivia – Stawell Gift|website=stawellgift.com|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>
Freeman did not compete during the 2001 season. In 2002 she returned to the track to compete as a member of Australia's victorious {{Nowrap|4 × 400 m}} relay team at the [[2002 Commonwealth Games]].

Freeman announced her retirement in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/16/1058035019872.html|title=Cathy Freeman retires|last=Johnson|first=Len|date=16 July 2003|work=[[The Age]]|access-date=4 January 2010 | location=Melbourne}}</ref>