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Tuesday, September 26
Retirement, politics all part of discussion
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Less than 24 hours after winning gold
in the women's 400 meters, Cathy Freeman was asked about her
long-term future but preferred to focus only on her next race.
|  | | Gold-medalist Cathy Freeman of Australia, center, has plenty of options in her life right now, but wants to concentrate on a massage and the 200 for the time being. |
Freeman was asked about retirement, about a possible career in
politics and about where she plans to live in the future during a
news conference Tuesday with other Australian medalists from the
day before.
Instead, she said she's concentrating on the first round of the
women's 200 meters on Wednesday (Tuesday night U.S. time).
"It's certainly more relaxing going into the deuce. The
expectations aren't as high as going into the 400," she said. "I
don't know if it gets any better than this. I don't know if I care
to search for that answer."
Freeman, 27, said she was not sure whether she'll still be
running at the time of the 2004 Athens Games, and brushed aside
continuing suggestions by Australian political leaders that she
enter public service.
Some political leaders have suggested that Freeman, the first
Aborigine to win an individual Olympic gold medal, could be a
powerful voice on indigenous affairs.
"Politics is something that isn't for me just for the moment. I
haven't had the time to focus my energy in that field. My running
career isn't over yet," she said. "But who knows down the track,
when you're supposedly older and wiser."
Freeman is married to an American and spent most of the past six
months in the United States and Europe while preparing for the
Olympics. But Freeman said she is trying not to think too far
ahead.
"Every second my thoughts take me somewhere else. Retirement?
Sure, it's crossed my mind. Living in another country? Sure it's
crossed my mind," she said.
"What I love so much about life is that it's a mystery and who
knows what lies ahead. My plan right now is just to run the 200
tomorrow. And I want to get a massage right away."
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