Olympic
gold medal-winner, Cathy Freeman, is the world's most famous Aboriginal athlete.
Read her story and decide if it is right to mix sport and politics.
Cathy
was born to Aborigine parents 27 years ago in north-east Australia. Her father
left home
when Cathy was five and her mother Cecelia was forced to work long hours as
a cleaner to
support* and feed her five children. She remarried and her husband Bruce was
determined to
help his stepchildren as much as possible. He soon noticed that Cathy was a
talented runner
and he encouraged her to train and enter local competitions. When she needed
the funds* to
travel to inter-state* competitions he knocked on doors and raffled* plates
of meat to raise the
money to help send her. Cathy was soon telling her school careers officer she
wanted to be a
champion runner but she was told that little Aborigine girls were not supposed
to* have such
ridiculous dreams.
In the 1990 Commonwealth* Games she became the first Aboriginal competitor to
win a gold
edal in athletics. After the Games she made her first political public statement.
"Being
Aboriginal means everything to me," she said. "I feel for my people
all the time. A lot of my
friends have the talent but lack* the opportunity."
Four years later at the next Commonwealth Games she won gold once more. This
time she
celebrated by doing a victory lap* with both the Australian and Aboriginal flags.
While many
applauded*, she was also criticised by some white Australians.
For many people Cathy Freeman has become a symbol of the Aborigine cause. She
has crossed
the racial divide while staying proud of her origins.
Glossary
applauded: clapped their hands
Commonwealth: organisation of independent countries that were once part of the British Empire
funds: money
inter-state: between different Australian states
lack: haven't got
lap: one journey around the race track
raffled: held lotteries for
support: (here) look after their needs
were
not supposed to: shouldn't, weren't meant to