Cathy Freeman

Cathy Freeman is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Magarr-Magarr Warra woman. She is also an Australian Indigenous Olympic champion. She ran her first race when she was five and realised that she loved the way racing made her feel. Cathy Freeman was a member of the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, and in so doing became the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an International athletics event. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1991 and Australian of the Year in 1998. She was also crowned World Champion in the 400m in both 1997 and 1999. Cathy’s most notable achievement, however, came in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Her image was beamed into millions of homes around the world when she became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. She then went on to win the gold medal in the 400m, realising a life-long dream.