‘Didn’t run as fast as I could have’: Cathy Freeman’s Sydney 2000 Olympics bombshell

Aussie sporting legend Cathy Freeman has revealed she feels a tinge of regret over her iconic gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

25 Sep 2000: Cathy Freeman of Australia crosses the line to win gold in the Womens 400m Final at the Olympic Stadium on Day 10 of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. \\ Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport

Aussie sporting legend Cathy Freeman has revealed she feels a tinge of regret over her iconic gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

The Indigenous great took the enormous weight of a nation’s pressure on her shoulders into the Games and, clad in the green and gold bodysuit, won gold in the women’s 400 metres.

But Freeman’s 49.11 seconds was short of her personal best, a 48.63 ran when winning silver at the Atlanta Games in 1996, and she is disappointed looking back at the iconic Sydney run because of it.

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Freeman was keen to race French rival Marie-Jose Perec, the winner of the two previous gold medals, but Perec fled Australia before the race after intense media attention and an alleged confrontation with a man at her hotel.

“I’d become used to expectation being put on me,” Freeman said on Friday at a Melbourne United NBL business luncheon.

“I almost needed it, because it kind of helps drive you and push you beyond what you think you’re capable of doing.

“Having said that, I don’t even think I really fulfilled my potential as an athlete, but that’s another story … learning to unburden yourself is really important, and finding freedom in life is key.”

She added: “I didn’t run as fast as I could have.

Cathy Freeman winning gold in the women’s 400m at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Photo: Mike Powell / Allsport

“I disappointed myself. That’s why I was so disappointed that Marie-Jose Perec wasn’t in the race because in her peak … we would have taken women’s 400m running to a next level.

“I remember being on the warm-up track and hearing that she wasn’t going to be in Sydney, and not at the start line. I remember for a split second my heart dropped because competitors love competing.

“When she wasn’t there, it was a bit of a blow, but what are you going to do? I am not going to chase her. I just had to move on really quickly.”

Originally published as ‘Didn’t run as fast as I could have’: Cathy Freeman’s Sydney 2000 Olympics bombshell