Hello. I'm Julia Zemiro, and welcome to Home Delivery.
Just up here, thank you, driver.
I have a habit of a thing called opening my mouth.
This series, I'm going to be taking
some extraordinary actors and musicians...
So, no basketball, then?
I did pash a guy over there, though.
..comedians and thinkers...
Is it true your brother once shot you?
Yeah, he did shoot me. Yeah, in the face.
..back to their childhood selves...
This room was just everything.
..and find out what has made them the people they are today.
Help! Julia Zemiro is radicalising me!
I'm in Mackay in North Queensland
to meet someone who is responsible for stopping time.
All of us remember exactly where we were
when she blazed around that track at Sydney 2000.
It was a win for the ages
and it felt like a win for all of us.
It's the remarkable Catherine Freeman.
(CHUCKLES)
Can I get a ride? Absolutely. Welcome.
Welcome! I love it!
Hello, Catherine. Oh, hello, Julia.
SONG: ♪ Jump in my car
♪ I wanna take you home
♪ Mm, jump in my car
♪ It's too far to walk on your own. ♪
Catherine Freeman was born in Mackay in 1973.
Even as a youngster,
her lightning speed made her stand out.
It's very important to me that my people are with me all the way.
I don't believe that at the moment there is a limit of my potential,
so I just intend to go on further, and further and further.
Her love of running culminated
in metaphorically carrying the weight of the nation,
and she delivered gold.
An Order of Australia recipient,
she's also the only person ever chosen
as both Australian and Young Australian of the Year.
An inspiration to all Australians,
she founded the Cathy Freeman Foundation in 2007
to provide education and opportunities
for young Indigenous Australians.
So, is this car familiar that we're in?
It is.
It was our first family car.
Wow! Yeah, the Kingswood Holden.
And, um, the nickname for the car was, um, Betsy.
B... (LAUGHS)
Betsy is more a cow name, though, don't you think?
It's a name for an animal. You're right, actually.
Betsy the cow.
Do you like dogs? I love dogs.
Yeah, I love dogs.
Do you have one? I've got a cat named Jazz.
She's 17.
17?! She's a good girl. Yeah.
'Cause I am absolutely, through and through, a cat lover.
So I take notice of cats more than people.
I didn't know cats lived that long.
I met a cat once that was 21 or 24 - over 20.
In a bar? Yeah! (LAUGHS)
In a bar - it's 21.
So, I've gotta do a U-ey, that's all.
(GRUNTS) Good on ya!
Oh, look at her go! Look at her go...
Look at Catherine Freeman turn this thing.
(LAUGHS) Oh...
You thought she had strong legs. She's got strong arms...
Oh... ..as well.
Ooh, my neck!
Oh, you're gonna put everything out! (LAUGHS)
Pull on in. Oh, my gosh. Look at this place!
Right. Now, how long has it been since you've been here, Catherine?
Over 20 years? At least over 15.
But is it true sometimes
that when you are here you do a little drive-by?
I do do drive-bys.
I was always keen to just see the changes.
Mm.
Like... like, for example, there was a well that once was here
and there was a tree that once was there
and there was once a bush over there and...
A well? Yeah.
Like, some cement above-ground well.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Don't ask.
I won't. So... (LAUGHS)
You lead the way. I'll lead the way?
Wow.
It is so small!
It's really... (LAUGHS) It's incredibly small.
Is this the same - this front room? Is this the same place?!
(LAUGHS) Is this the same place?
It is the same place, I'm pretty certain.
Why does it seem like it might not be?
It's just tiny.
Can you not imagine all of you here? I...
It's different to me because, I suppose,
the last time I was here I was, you know, a tiny little girl.
Who was living here at the time?
Um, well, there was my mother, obviously,
my two younger brothers,
and at one point my older brother. Mm?
And then my mother remarried, and so then there was my stepdad.
This looks really familiar, except this bench wasn't here.
Mm.
And was Mum kind of in charge of the kitchen?
Was Cecelia basically...?
Mum was just in charge, full-stop. Right.
And, yeah, no... I don't know, it was a very relaxed household.
Mm.
'Cause there's this perception that you were a shy kid,
but when it came to being... to running...
Um... ..that was the place to go...
That was the place to just go, yeah, like that. (LAUGHS)
Thank you, Catherine.
Like that. Like that. (LAUGHS)
You know, we'll talk about this later, but I'm so not a runner.
There's no such thing. Mate, believe me.
Everyone can run. Oh, mate? Oh, yeah, everyone can run.
(LAUGHS) But they don't look good doing it.
I remember the configuration in this room.
There was double bunks there, where the brothers slept.
And I was on... on this side. So...
God, how did you do it, though, Catherine?
Honestly, I don't know. Mm.
I mean, two boys. Yeah.
"Shut up! Go to sleep!" I was really lucky.
They kind of listened to most things I said.
When you're the girl... the older girl
you tend to sort of, you know, become
like a bit of a lioness sort of type mother.
And so I definitely... Looked out?
..looked out for them and looked over them.
And I probably embarrass my brother now.
He's 40, and I still carry on like he's three or four or something.
So, this is Gavin's room? This is Gavin's room.
And I won't go into the... (LAUGHS)
..some of the memories I have here.
Why is that?
Oh, you know, teenage brothers and...
Oh! Yeah.
..you know, things that teenage boys get up to
and sometimes little sisters walk in on!
(LAUGHS) Ugh!
But, I mean, it's being a teenager, isn't it?
We all do it. We all do it.
I've just outed myself.
So, when Gavin finally left, did someone get this room?
Oh, hello - I did. Yeah.
Your own room? Yeah, this was my room.
I would have had, like... I remember love heart sheets.
I remember having cats everywhere.
Cats...? Would have been my cat, or two.
But this... whoever's living here now certainly is really good at sport.
You can see... Yeah, she is.
Now, honestly, it's not like we've set this up. We truly haven't.
But it turns out that there's a little girl who lives in this house
who is a runner.
Oh, wow. I know.
Go, Mackay.
Look at all these medals. I know! That is incredible.
And look at the ribbons too.
I know! Oh, my God!
She's a superstar.
She's got superstar awards. (LAUGHS) Fantastic.
Were you allowed to put your ribbons up on the walls?
I... I'm just not like that.
I mean, really, I'm just...
I know when I've won, and that's all that I need.
It's a small place and it's a humble place
and it's a really simple place
and, um, it's just where everything started.
It's just really, um...
Yeah, it's a nice feeling.
It's just a really nice feeling.
My cousins used to come and visit.
I remember Christmas,
and my uncle, um, Uncle Arna used to dress up
as, you know, Father Christmas and carry on, and, um...
But it was a really easy...
It was easy and...
..and problem-free and, um... hap...
Yeah, it's just... it was just oddly happy.
It was oddly happy. Mm.
You know, as a... when I look back to that time in my life living here,
I had no clue - no kid really does - of what is ahead
and what's gonna happen
and, you know, the twists and the turns
and, you know, the things that come up at you
and you're never really ready to deal with.
And I feel like I've come a long way
but I don't think I've changed much at the same time.
You had a pretty strong figure at the head of your family.
Cecelia, your mum. Yep.
I mean, from what I've read, she sounds like a remarkable woman.
What was your relationship when you were young?
Uh, it was really good.
It was, um, a very strong one, a very close one. Still is.
It was almost a bit frightening at times for me to have a mother
who was incredibly strong
and so independent.
And she's the eldest of 11,
so she was the one who was very much the leader of the pack.
I look back over... over the years
and I understand now more than ever, you know, the, um...
..why she made the choices that she made
and why she pushed me so hard
and, you know, why she felt like, you know, people of my generation
had to take the opportunities that were there
that weren't necessarily there for her, you know, when she was a child.
But you also had a sister. Ann-Marie. Yeah.
She was seven years my senior
and she's absolutely the shining light and inspiration of my life,
without question.
She had severe cerebral palsy and she, um...
When my youngest brother was born
my mother had to make that heartbreaking decision
of putting Ann-Marie into full-time care.
Your dad, uh, left the home when you were five...
Mm-hm. ..and your mum was on her own.
Was he still a part of your life in the long run?
I thought the world of my father.
I don't know if every little girl's like that.
(CHUCKLES) Certainly, in my family, it's very much like that,
between, um, you know, my husband and our daughter,
but I... I was very loyal to my father.
Even though, obviously, he... you know, nobody is perfect,
(LAUGHS) ..in my mind he was perfect.
Your mum met Bruce Barber, who became your stepdad,
and you've said that, really, without Bruce
there may not have been an Olympics.
Oh, without question.
It took my stepdad to enter into this world, into our lives...
Into this house. (LAUGHS) Into this house.
And, um, he...
Because he was from Sydney. Mm, right!
And he... he'd been a budding boxer
and he'd trained with Tommy Smith as a jockey.
So he was very much a person
who understood the opportunities that were out there.
I remember having a look out the... out this door
and, um, I saw his blue... Betsy, this, you know, Kingswood...
(CHUCKLES) ..rock up at the front of the house
and I remember calling out to my mother and saying,
"Oh, Mum! There's this white man, and he's coming! He's coming!"
And my mum just went, "Ohhh!"
How much of the little girl that lived here
is still in you, do you think?
Oh! A lot.
A lot, because I'm still more interested
in knowing what makes me feel happy.
Mm. And I know how to be happy.
That five-year-old girl I was, I'd go out and run
and everyone could... just had this reaction
to this kid who could run really fast.
Mm.
Intuitively, I knew how to manage that,
just because I knew what made me happy and what made me feel free.
And I think... yeah, I think that's held me in really good stead.
Mm.
Like I said earlier,
there happens to be a young girl, Troya, who lives here,
who is a runner.
Should we leave her a little note?
We'll leave it sneakily. We won't tell her.
She'll find it in her bed in the morning.
Now, your full name - what is it?
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman.
The 'Cathy' name came once you got some success in running
and a journalist coined that name, didn't she?
That's right.
In 1990, I made my first Australian senior team, won a gold medal.
The next thing I know, I'm...
You're a Cathy. ..Cathy Freeman, yeah.
But, I mean, that's an Aussie thing too,
of couldn't possibly say a full name, have to shorten everything.
At least it is not Catho.
Catho. (LAUGHS) Go, Catho.
Freemo. You know.
Goosepond Creek! We're going over Goosepond Creek!
I learnt to play the organ there.
You learnt to play the organ? I learnt to play the organ.
Do you mean you could have been a great organist
and instead you decided to be a great runner?
Yeah. Yeah... Yeah? Yeah!
(BOTH LAUGH) Yes.
Were you good at the organ?
I enjoyed it, but not as much as the running.
I loved primary school.
I loved coming to St Joeys.
I still remember my first day.
I was the only kid not crying.
Were there lots of Indigenous kids at this school?
Yes, there were. There were. Right.
Happy beginnings.
My very first run... Catherine's run.
..would have started from where the start of the sandpit is
near that playground,
heading that way - where that building is.
So, just along here? Yeah!
Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge for the teacher
'cause I went and hid in the toilet.
It's a famous story. Is it?
Haven't you heard it? No. Tell me.
Yeah. I went... So, it's a proper race
and they've gone, "Where's Catherine?"
And I went and hid in the toilet.
Why? Oh, I was too shy.
It was just, it was all too much.
Seemed like a long way at the time, I think.
Oh, you did it!
I did it. I won, man!
It's pretty incredible, Catherine, to come back to that bit, isn't it?
To know that it's sort of all here where it starts.
Yeah. Good memories.
Barefoot and everything. Good.
Barefoot? Mm.
The real running. (CHUCKLES)
And what were your favourite subjects in primary?
Oh, I always enjoyed... well, PE... art and music.
And what teachers do you remember here?
Oh! There was Sister Ida, who was the principal,
Sister Joanne, Mrs Tate, Mrs Baldry,
and my favourite was Ms Stanza.
Why? She was so happy.
She was always smiling
and she made you feel like she really cared.
I loved her. Loved her. Magic.
That's all you have to do. (LAUGHS) Yeah.
When did you start running state titles?
How old were you? Eight.
Are you feeling the excitement of that yet, as an eight-year-old?
Well, I remember being more excited about the plane ride
and looking out the window at night-time
and landing into Brisbane.
That was my first plane ride. So that was exciting.
That IS exciting.
It wasn't until, like, around six years later
where things got really...
..where I started to feel the... feel pressure.
Because I was now, um, a serious athlete
who... you know, who was a national representative
and, you know, Commonwealth Games gold medallist
and buzz in the media about me at the time,
and especially due to, you know, the...
..my background, Indigenous background.
Your younger brother Norman was an amazing sportsman as well.
True. That's true. He's sadly no longer with us.
Yes. But who was faster?
Didn't ever compete against one another.
I think he probably had a lot more raw talent than what I did
but I think I just had, uh, probably a lot more common sense
and just applied myself better.
(LAUGHS) Mm. Yeah. And that counts.
And he would agree, actually, if he was sitting here, so...
Did you love running?
Yes...
..yes, and yes.
It's good to hear that for you there was a love there.
It was my first love. My first love. Always will be.
I was heartbroken when I realised it wasn't to be anymore.
It was... What, you mean in retirement?
Yeah, in retirement.
Like, when I realised it was time to hang the shoes up
it absolutely broke my heart.
And just thinking about it now
I always get a little bit...
(FEIGNS CHOKING) ..you know, emotional about it.
Because you're giving it up for good, I suppose.
Yeah.
You know, not everybody has the opportunity in life
or the presence in mind
to have that trust in something, you know?
But for me, when I... every time I ran
I felt so free, so untouchable, so happy.
Um, and whilst I grew up into a ruthless competitor who hated losing
and, you know, with all of the...
..you know, the discipline and the sacrifices,
it never ceased to amaze me just how happy it made me feel.
If I lost the ability to run,
I can't even bear the thought of the sort of person I'd be,
and the sort of people...
..the atmosphere I would create with my husband.
The poor guy. Around your whole family, yeah.
Oh, and I mean that. Yeah, yeah.
Well, good. Hopefully, we'll keep you running.
Did you want to be famous? Absolutely not. (LAUGHS)
Yeah, I don't even know why I asked that question.
I know the answer. No, no. Why not ask that question?
(LAUGHS) Yeah.
But I absolutely don't apologise for choosing to...
..you know, my first love, running.
But I think a lot of successful people who...
..you know, whether their passion is sport, music, acting, whatever,
it starts off being this absolute passion
and then, at some point or another, all the stuff around it takes over.
It's amazing that you just sort of
come out of it kind of unscathed, really.
I like to think I'm relatively unscathed and unchanged.
I mean, obviously I have had opportunities I wouldn't have had
had I not have achieved my childhood dream.
Every Home Delivery gets a guest
that comes to, um, hang out with them.
We're about to go and meet your friend Cindy Willett.
How did you meet Cindy?
I first met Cindy maybe six or seven years of age.
Let's go and find her.
Cindy! Hello. Hello.
Mwah!
Thank you for coming here and meeting us.
BOTH: Mwah! (LAUGHS)
Now, Cindy and Catherine.
And where did you meet? Here.
At the track, yeah. We met here, at the track.
There wasn't too many, um, Indigenous athletes,
so we just clicked.
We're like sisters.
Like typical kids, probably - just started running with each other
and just started... just hanging out with each other.
And can you remember, Cindy, how focused Cathy was?
Yeah. She was very focused.
And leading up to any races, Bruce would have her to the side.
She'd be by herself, um, getting ready to warm... she's warming up.
And usually, when everybody knew Catherine was running,
um, everybody'd be lined up ready to watch the race.
Rea...? I did not know that. Yeah, no.
I did not. Yeah. Yeah.
This is the first I've heard of it.
Especially when there was a race, the Campbell Miles.
So, the Campbell Miles was the race for the best of the best
and it was an open women's.
Catherine was the youngest out of all those girls
and, yeah, she...
I still remember the time you won that race.
Yeah, you knew she was special.
Apparently, Whitney Houston
is a bit of a connection the two of you have as well.
Yeah. Oh, that's...
What's the story? Oh, yeah, no. She's our idol.
Yeah, we... we love Whitney. We grew up... Yeah. Yeah.
Whitney's our black Barbie doll.
'Cause we used to get the hairbrush and we'd sing into the hairbrush.
We WERE Whitney, Julia. We were Whitney, yeah.
Wow! We were looking in the mirror...
We were Mackay's answer to Whitney Houston.
Yeah.
Boys? Crushes?
Oh, no. I was too busy.... No, we were training.
(LAUGHS) Yeah.
I don't know... It's interesting. We had no time for boys.
Boys were so far less interesting than running.
And she has never let it go to her head?
No, she hasn't tried to be.
I think she'd get a good whack behind the head or something...
Absolutely. ..if she tried to...
Absolutely. Gosh. Yeah.
I remember one time when Catherine came and... into the school
and I asked her to come and have a talk with the kids,
and I think...
I can't remember whether it was just after the Olympics.
And I said to her,
"Do you realise what effect you have on the kids, and on everybody?"
and she's like, "Nah."
And that's what I love about her.
She's so... just Catherine. Mm.
Yeah. She doesn't change or...
There you go. ..try to be anybody else.
She's just... Yeah. Yeah, she's stayed herself.
Yeah.
Well, Cindy, thank you so much
for just shedding a little bit more light on Catherine.
Yeah. Just a little bit.
Look how much she's hating having nice things said about her.
Absolutely. Yeah.
That must have been incredible, to get an oval named after you?
It's pretty special.
It is really... it's really special. Who am I kidding?
Two world 400 championships.
Five Commonwealth Games medals.
A silver in Atlanta.
A gold in Sydney.
You get to light the torch.
When you were running around that track, with dreams,
did you ever think it would come... that far?
Oh, no!
I just did what my coach told me to do
and I really kept it that simple
and I think that's one of the reasons why I was...
..I was easy to coach.
Is it about overthinking too?
If you overthink something, then you start to think,
"Oh if that happens, if that happens, if that happens,"
instead of "Well, no, I'll just do it."
I mean, you know, athletes, like performers,
thoughts get in their own way
and they become, um, tools of paralysis sometimes.
Um, and I think it just, um, promotes performance anxiety
and it's just... it becomes, really, an unhappy existence.
And so I often say,
look, just get back to the reasons why you started doing it
and, you know, the joy factor and the happy factor
and just, you know, don't worry about the thinking side of things.
Just be happy.
It's such a huge commitment, that kind of elite sport.
You've... You know, you've worked really hard from a young age
and you got there.
Would you wish that kind of work or that career on your daughter?
No. No. (LAUGHS)
Really? No!
I think it's because it's a very hard existence.
It's a very single-minded, selfish, um...
It's not a... it's not a lifestyle
where you enjoy other people's company.
You don't interact with many people
for the sheer love of engaging with people, which is...
And that's not...
It's not... it doesn't necessarily lend itself
to a balanced lifestyle or to a well-roundedness.
And I've been surrounded by some pretty amazing people
who have always grounded me,
and that person probably started with my father,
um, who, you know, even at the age of sixteen
when I had my first bit of success,
you know, sort of really said some harsh words to me
and said, you know, just... "Who do you actually think you are?"
Right.
And it was tough love, like my mother gave me as well, so...
But maybe it is good to hear that young
'cause that's when it can go to your head.
Oh, without question.
I've always been mindful of not losing touch with reality too much.
However, when you're an athlete who wants to be the best in the world
or the best you possibly can be,
unfortunately, you do have to disengage from reality.
An example is the fact that I had to be really mindful
of the kind of people I used to spend time with.
And what I mean by that is that
if there was too much negative mindset
or, um, self-defeating attitudes that people carried
I just... I had to really put distance
between myself and those types of people.
When you were saying before that you were a good girl
and you did what you were told... Oh, God.
..where does the killer streak come out, then?
'Cause that's not something they can teach you.
No, I... It's an interesting question. I often ponder this.
I think it comes from being grounded.
Because that lends itself to being... to having perspective
and then, when you have perspective,
you understand pain and you understand loss
and you understand defeat and you understand... the fight
and you understand what is needed from yourself.
Mm.
And I think that's probably where I learnt a lot...
..where my character grew.
Now, your brother Norman was in the top 10
in terms of, uh, athletes in Australia there for a while.
In terms of rugby league - played for Brisbane.
Mm. True.
But he returned home and gave it away.
Was there never a part of you that went,
"I'd like to actually give it up too - this is too much"?
I was 13, just wanting to do what the cool kids were doing
and I had to make that choice, you know -
is it a really sort of serious, disciplined life of an athlete
or do I just go and be with my family and friends
and do what everyone else is doing?
And then my mother had stern words with me,
and it was all or nothing
because that's actually just who I am anyway.
(CROWD CHATTERS, CALLS OUT)
MAN: Set.
COMMENTATOR: Set.
Away they go. Cathy's final campaign is on the road.
Ogunkoya leads Seyerling, then Freeman, Guevara, Graham, Merry.
Over on the inside, Fraser collared by Kotlyarova.
Still in stagger formation.
250 to run. Freeman well placed.
Challenge is going to come from Graham,
who's running a big first 200.
Merry working her way through as well.
Ogunkoya still in front of Seyerling.
Freeman working her way through.
Graham's going to come at her hard.
So is Merry.
130 to run.
Beneath the Olympic flame
as they head towards the straight.
And Graham is just in front of Freeman.
She's going to have to work.
Graham, Merry, Freeman.
Freeman gets to the front!
Freeman leads by a metre!
Graham fighting on, but Freeman is too good!
The crowd roaring!
Freeman wins gold!
Cathy's the winner. Australia the winner.
Sydney 2000 was a moment... Yeah. Yes.
..for many Australians that was quite defining,
for lots of reasons and lots of things.
If I ever watch that race - and I know how it finishes -
I still can't believe it
and I still dissolve into tears at the end.
And I don't quite understand why that is.
Hmm.
It's such a huge moment for so many reasons.
Hmm.
17 years on, do you look at that race...
..or, when you watch it,
are you out of your body, watching it,
or are you still back in the race?
Without sounding weird about it,
it's kind of like a beautiful...
..beautiful nightmare. Yeah, absolutely.
Because it's, um, the sheer joy and elation
that I think so many people experienced,
and I was sort of like that one little girl
who sort of seemed to wear everybody's...
..feelings or attachment or whatever.
I don't know - I can't even quite articulate it.
But it's sort of... it's really wonderful and it's beautiful
but, you know, for someone who only ever set out to run
it's nearly, almost too much to bear.
Well, let's, Mackay, show us a little bit more.
Will you take me to the river?
Yes, I'd love to take you to the river.
Great.
You've said that Ann-Marie was a great inspiration to you.
Is family important? Family are important.
Because they remind me of where I've...
..you know, where I'm from and who I belong to
and those very first personal values that I've... that I've been taught.
And how was Ann-Marie an inspiration?
Oh, she needed help with everything.
She couldn't talk.
Although, it's interesting,
because I knew exactly what she was feeling most of the time
and she very much taught me about the nonverbal communication.
So I just absolutely loved her. She taught me so much.
Have you got new mountains to climb?
I am definitely one of those types who...
..who jumps out of bed most mornings and likes to get into the day.
And three things I'm fully committed to
are my foundation, working with elite athletes
and, of course, being a mum.
Are you the same person now
that you were as that person that won that race?
I don't think, in essence, I've changed.
I think, if anything, I've just become an older version of someone
who's probably a bit more... clear on things,
and I think that's just what happens when you get older.
Life, in my eyes, hasn't changed - it's just things around me have.
It has been incredible spending the day with you, Catherine,
it really has.
Thank you for... Thank you.
..walking us through Mackay and your life.
Thank you.
It's been amazing. Thank you.
(LAUGHS)
And now we just have this beautiful view to take in.
Oh, it's gorgeous, isn't it?
Oh! Am I really gonna have to go for a run?
Yes. Eeh.
Alright.
Captions by Ericsson Access Services
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation