Freeman, Cathy (1973-…), is a popular Australian track star of Aboriginal descent. Freeman became a controversial figure within Australia when she carried both the Australian flag and the Aboriginal Flag at the Commonwealth Games in 1994. 
At the 1994 Commonwealth Games, in Victoria, Canada, Freeman won the gold medal in the 200-meter and 400-meter races. She was the first athlete in history to win both races at the Commonwealth Games. As Freeman ran a lap of honor following her victories, she chose to carry the Aboriginal flag along with the Australian flag. The Aboriginal flag, created in 1971, was seen as a symbol of national identity for Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. However, some people publicly criticized Freeman’s decision because the Aboriginal flag was not officially recognized by the Australian government at the time. Many other people praised her choice to celebrate her heritage.
Freeman won the silver medal for the 400-meter run at the 1996 Olympic Games, and she won the world title in the event in 1997 and 1999. Freeman won the gold medal in the 400-meter race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. As at the Commonwealth Games, she followed her Olympic victory by taking a lap of honor with the Australian and Aboriginal flags entwined. She also had been selected to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics.
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman was born on Feb. 16, 1973, in Mackay, Queensland. She has Aboriginal heritage through both of her parents. She is a descendant of the Kuku Yalanji people of northern Queensland and the Burri Gubba people of central Queensland. She was named Young Australian of the Year in 1990 and Australian of the Year in 1998, the only person to win both titles.
In 2003, Freeman announced her retirement from athletic competition. In 2007, she founded the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which aims to close the educational gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. The foundation was renamed the Community Spirit Foundation in 2022.
