The race was only 400 meters, but Australia came so much further Monday night.
It was a race of recognition and reconciliation for the 2000 Olympics host nation. It was about a country trying to come to grips with a history of neglect and poor treatment of its native Aboriginal people. It was about a runner whose grandmother was part of the “Stolen Generation” in the 1930s, taken from her home and forced to live with a white family for assimilation purposes.
Nearly seven decades later, it was about a people putting their arms around the granddaughter who now serves as a bridge to what Australians hope will be a better future.
It was, as one newspaper headline read Monday, “The race of our lives.”
So when Cathy Freeman won the women’s 400 meters in 49.11 seconds to become the first Aboriginal athlete to win an individual gold medal, it was a victory not only for her but all the Australian people. The symbolism never was stronger than when Freeman ran around the track carrying both Aboriginal and Australian flags.
Perhaps never before have the Aboriginal colors–red for earth, yellow for the sun, and black for the people–been so intertwined with the Union Jack that represent Australia.
“Hopefully what happened tonight will make a difference for a lot of people’s attitudes, from the people on the street to the politicians,” Freeman said. “Hopefully I made a lot of people from all different backgrounds feel good.”
It was almost as if all of Australia was running the race with her. The whole country had been pointing to this event for four years, since Freeman won the silver medal in Atlanta. Australia had won only one track gold medal since 1968, and it was looking for the ultimate moment to climax its Olympics.
It is hard to imagine the expectations being any higher. Freeman was the only competitor who had to run the 400 meters with 19 million people on her back.
Freeman admitted being nervous but she knew she had to run her race. That meant being relaxed for the first 200 meters and then using her strength for the final 100.
The strategy worked. She pulled away over the final 50 meters to win easily over Lorraine Graham of Jamaica (49.58) and Katherine Merry of Great Britain (49.72).
The race might have been more competitive if two-time Olympic champion Marie-Jose Perec hadn’t suddenly pulled out of the Games. But it seems unlikely Perec could have beaten Freeman on this night.
It’s hard to imagine another person enjoying a greater home-field advantage. Throughout the race, the noise in the stadium built like an enormous wave. Even the other runners were motivated by it.
“I was pushed by the crowd,” Graham said. “I used the crowd to take me home.”
The adulation, however, was all directed at Freeman. When the race was over, it came cascading down on her in an overwhelming tide of emotion.
Initially Freeman sat on the ground, exhausted. “I was relieved it was over,” she said.
But exhilaration came quickly, as the noise grew louder.
“I could feel the crowd all over me,” Freeman said. “I felt all the emotion being absorbed into every pore of my body. I just had to sit there and get normal with it.”
Freeman experienced the same cheers during the Opening Ceremony when she was selected to light the torch. But she couldn’t quite bask in the moment because she was worried about falling into the water that surrounded the cauldron.
“It was fun, but an Olympic gold medal is more personal compared to lighting the Olympic flame,” Freeman said.
The race was culmination of a life’s work for Freeman. It dated to her days as a child when her mother, Cecilia, had Cathy post a reminder on her wall: “I am the world’s greatest athlete.”
It included the pressure of representing all the Aboriginal people, some of whom called on her to boycott the Olympics in protest of Australia’s treatment of Aboriginals over the years.
“This fact should be celebrated, not abused,” Freeman said. “I love where I come from but I am not at the Olympics to be political.”
In a way, however, she couldn’t avoid it. She made her statement with her running and then sealed it with her smile.
When asked how she planned to celebrate, Freeman said, “I’m going to share the gold medal with my husband and my family, and anyone who wants to join in.”
That includes all of Australia.
