Disappointment and adversity can be catalysts for greatness.
Cathy Freeman is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Birri Gubba 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. She won her first gold medal at a School Athletics Championships when she was eight years old.
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 a year later in Barcelona became the first Australian Aboriginal to represent Australia at an Olympic Games. Two years later, Cathy won gold in both the 200m and 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, she won silver with a personal best time of 48.63s in the 400m. She was crowned World Champion in the same event at the World Athletic Championships the following year, was awarded Australian of the year in 1998, and was again World Champion in the 400m in 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.
Cathy also spent 15 years building the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which commenced in 2007, where the focus was on supporting Indigenous children to experience their potential in school and beyond and realise their dreams.
Talking Points
Focusing on the Finish Line
Focusing on the Finish Line
Video
Cathy Freeman @SaxtonSpeakers Australia Speaks
Cathy Freeman is one of Australia's most admired and respected athletes: an Australian superstar and an Australian icon. As one of Australia's most popular high profile personalities, Catherine is recognised for her modesty, free spirit and passion for her family and country. An Olympic gold medallist, Cathy drew international attention to her achievements during her victory lap at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, where she proudly brandished both the Australia and Aboriginal flags. Four billion people watched Cathy light the Olympic cauldron at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, cementing her position on the world stage.Catherine was fantastic, real and raw. Exactly what we wanted to see and perfect for our conference and tone. ... keep reading Toll Group
Cathy was the perfect fit for our audience, lovely to work with and a privilege to engage with someone of such a genuine nature. Our audience were fully engaged and the whole series was a great success. Thank you.
The event was truly one to remember! We had the biggest turnout in years, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Cathy was generous with her time and her humility, authenticity, and professionalism truly stood out.
Catherine Freeman was a warm spontaneous speaker who allowed us to share her journey. She is natural, unpretentious and a delight to listen too.
Catherine was absolutely wonderful all day. Every Casey staff member that came in contact with her was impressed by her relaxed and down to earth personality. More importantly feedback from the public has been outstanding. Many children have told us meeting Catherine at the GP Run was the best day of their lives. A lot of feedback we have received from the public was that this year was the best GP Run ever and I'm sure an enormous amount of that feedback came to us because of Catherine's performance on the day.
