Cathy soars under crushing pressure

She ran her socks off, to paraphrase a fellow runner.

In fact, the pressure had been building up for months. Years, perhaps, ever since she lost in Atlanta to Marie-Jose Perec. And when she lit the Olympic flame 10 days ago, the pressure simply grew. What added to it was the certainty of her victory.

There never really was any doubt, especially after Perec crumbled under her own pressures and fled the Olympic Village.

Maybe Freeman had spoken to that other Aussie sporting icon, Steve Waugh. Last year Waugh was twice faced with incredible pressure. The first time, under threat from a rampant South African team, he kept his cool and won of the most thrilling, emotional cricket matches ever. The second time, he kept his feet firmly on the ground as his side walked out against Pakistan at Lord’s the overwhelming favourites to win the World Cup.

But that was Lord’s, an away match, the fans mainly Pakistanis. This was Sydney, with 100,000 hysterical Australians — and that’s some hysteria — screaming her name. Dressed in her body-suit, she picked up the gauntlet and ran.

It only lasted 49.11 seconds, but it may well have been an eternity for her and the fans in the stands and the millions watching on TV. Even the helpers and volunteers inside the stadium left their stalls and positions, all wanting to be part of the occasion. She started strong enough, but only managed to get ahead of Jamaica’s Lorraine Graham in the final 50 metres. Freeman was in lane six and it was only as they hit the final bend that she became fully aware that Graham, who was in lane three, was threatening to deprive her of the gold. One final, superlative burst of speed and Freeman had reached her promised land.

Once there, she sank to the track and sat holding her head, looking stunned as the enromity of what she had done actually dawned on her. It was only several minutes later that she rose and allowed a smile to cross her face. “The first emotion was relief. When you have trained so long for something the emotion is just so intense. I don’t think it has really sunk it yet”, said Freeman. “I’m very proud.”

Later, much later, when she made terrestrial contact, Freeman managed to put her thoughts into words. “It’s been a dream since I was a little girl. Tonight I’ve grown up. I felt great coming round the bend and I couldn’T wait to cross the line to end four years of expectation. I have felt the pressure from the Australian people. I didn’t mind. But I am glad it is over.”

The crowd weren’t. They were part of the celebrations as IOC vice-president Kevan Gosper presented her with the gold. As her name was called out over the public address system, she leapt onto the podium and waved back at them. As the national anthem was played, tens of thousands in the stadium broke into song and hundreds of flashlights began popping. And as Freeman finally left the stadium, throwing her winner’s bouquet to her mother in the stands, the crowd began chanting `Cathy, Cathy, Cathy.’ A new Australian sporting icon had been crowned.