Photo: Jason Pini/AusAID—CC BY 2.0
Cathy Freeman
AUSWomenCatherine Astrid Salome Freeman (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 11th-fastest woman of all time, set while finishing second to Marie-José Pérec's number-six time at the 1996 Olympics. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she had lit the Olympic Flame. Freeman was the first female Indigenous Australian to become a Commonwealth Games gold medalist at age 16 in 1990.
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. In 1998, Freeman took a break from running due to injury.
She returned from injury in form with a first-place finish 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, which changed names twice (to Community Spirit Foundation and later to Murrup). She is of the Kuku-yalanji and Birri-gubba peoples.
As of Sep 12, 2026: 400 m 48.63 (#11 all-time), 200 m 22.25 (#105 all-time), 2003 season best 51.66 (Apr 4, 2003, Brisbane (AUS)) · Olympic Games: 1 gold, 1 silver · World Championships: 2 gold, 1 bronze · Area record (400 m) · 53 years old
Personal bests
* Wind-assisted (> 2.0 m/s)
Medals
| 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| World Championships | 2 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |