From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cathy Freeman
,
OAM
(born 16 February 1973) is a retired
Australian
sprinter
. She ran mostly in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the
2000 Summer Olympics
.
[1]
She lit the
Olympic Flame
at the beginning of the 2000 games.
[2]
She has won several medals at the
Commonwealth Games
, the Olympics, and the
IAAF World Championships
. She retired from athletics in 2003.
Freeman was born in Slade Point,
Mackay, Queensland
. She is
Aboriginal
.
[1]
Her mother was born in the
Manbarra
community on
Palm Island
. Freeman was raised as a
Baha'i
.
[3]
[4]
[5]
In 1998, she was awarded
Australian of the Year
. In 2001, she was given both the
World Sportswoman of the Year
and the
Medal of the Order of Australia
.
Media related to
Cathy Freeman
at Wikimedia Commons