Cathy Freeman is one of the most famous Olympians to represent Australia in the Olympics. In 1992, she was selected for the 4×100m event and became the first Indigenous Australian woman to compete in the Olympics.

In 1996, Freeman took home the silver medal in the 400m. She became the first Indigenous Australian woman to win Olympic Gold in an individual event (400m) in 2000. The occasion was especially momentous, as the ’00 Summer Olympic Games were held in Sydney, Australia.

In 2007, Freeman started the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which actively works to improve educational programs in Indigenous communities.

Her mother is of the Kuku Yalanji people of far north Queensland and along with her grandmother was born in the Indigenous community of Palm Island. Her father was born in Woorabinda and is of the the Burri Gubba people of central Queensland.

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