1. Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman was born on 16 February 1973 and is an Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event.
31 Facts About Cathy Freeman
1. 2.
Cathy Freeman was the first Indigenous Australian person to become a Commonwealth Games gold medalist at age 16 in 1990.
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In 1998, Cathy Freeman took a break from running due to injury.
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In 1987, Cathy 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.
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Cathy Freeman moved to Melbourne in 1990 after the Auckland Commonwealth Games.
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Cathy Freeman was then selected to represent Australia at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
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Cathy Freeman competed in her second World Junior Championships in Seoul, South Korea.
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Cathy Freeman competed only in the 200 m, winning the silver medal behind China's Hu Ling.
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At the 1993 World Championships in Athletics Cathy Freeman competed in the 200 m, reaching the semi-finals.
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Cathy Freeman made more progress during the 1996 season, setting many personal bests and Australian records.
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Cathy Freeman eventually took the silver medal behind Perec, in an Australian record of 48.63 seconds.
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In 1997, Cathy Freeman won the 400 m at the World Championships in Athens, with a time of 49.77 seconds.
13.
Cathy Freeman took a break for the 1998 season, due to injury.
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Cathy Freeman continued to win into the 2000 season, despite Perec's return to the track.
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Cathy Freeman won the Olympic title in a time of 49.11 seconds, becoming only the second Australian Aboriginal Olympic champion.
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Since retiring from athletics Cathy Freeman has become involved in a range of community and charitable activities.
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Cathy Freeman was an Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation until 2012.
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Cathy Freeman was appointed as an Ambassador for Cottage by the Sea, alongside celebrity chef Curtis Stone and big-wave surfer Jeff Rowley.
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Cathy Freeman retired from her position as Patron after 10 years in 2014.
20.
Cathy Freeman was born in 1973 at Slade Point, Mackay, Queensland, to Norman Cathy Freeman and Cecelia Barber.
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Cathy Freeman had an older sister, Anne-Marie, who was born in 1966 and died in 1990.
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Cathy Freeman attended several schools, including schools in Mackay and Coppabella, but was mostly educated at Fairholme College in Toowoomba where she attended after winning a scholarship to board there.
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Cathy Freeman's parents divorced in 1978, after which her father returned to Woorabinda.
24.
Cathy Freeman had a long-term romantic relationship with Nick Bideau, her manager, that ended in acrimony and legal wranglings over Cathy Freeman's endorsement earnings.
25.
Cathy Freeman married Alexander "Sandy" Bodecker, a Nike executive 20 years her senior, in 1999.
26.
Later that year, Cathy Freeman began dating Australian actor Joel Edgerton whom she initially met at the 2002 TV Week Logies.
27.
In October 2006, Cathy Freeman announced her engagement to Melbourne stockbroker James Murch.
28.
Cathy Freeman is a supporter of National Rugby League team the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Australian Football League team the Carlton Blues.
29.
Cathy Freeman was a part of the "Group of 14" who backed the return of the South Sydney Rabbitohs to the NRL following their exclusion in 2000 and 2001.
30.
On 10 October 2023, Cathy Freeman was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.
31.
Cathy Freeman joined with actress Deborah Mailman on a road trip, a four-part television documentary series Going Bush where the pair set off on a journey from Broome to Arnhem Land spending time with Indigenous communities along the way.