Cathy Freeman says she is fighting to run again after severe knee injury

Cathy Freeman, the Australian Olympic champion, has disclosed she is fighting to be able to run again after a severe knee injury that followed a 2023 ruptured Achilles tendon.

The 52-year-old former sprinter told The Australian Women's Weekly she drives herself to rehabilitation three times a week because she wants to run again and will not accept anything less. Freeman has used a walking stick and crutches in recent years after a series of leg injuries have significantly limited her mobility.

Freeman has also been managing long-term health conditions, including asthma and Type 2 diabetes. She said those conditions inform how she approaches recovery and daily self-care, and she described nutrition, time in nature, laughter and community as central to maintaining her "heart, spirit, mind and body."

The Indigenous sporting icon, who lit the Olympic cauldron at the Sydney Games and won the 400 metres in 2000, was aged 16 when she first became the first Australian Indigenous athlete to win Commonwealth Games gold. She collected further Commonwealth golds in 1994, a silver at the 1996 Olympics, and world titles in 1997 and 1999 before retiring in 2003.

Freeman said an accident at home in 2023 led to a ruptured Achilles that required surgery, and that a subsequent knee injury has further restricted her movement. She has been publicly protective of her private life but in the interview spoke about how motherhood has changed her, saying she has become a better listener and more empathetic since the birth of her daughter, Ruby, now 14.

Freeman married cricketer and manager James Murch in 1999 and later separated; she said she is inspired by her daughter's strong voice and independent thinking and would prefer Ruby pursue music or art rather than follow her into elite sport. "She does like sport, but I'd rather her take up music or art," Freeman said, adding that Ruby writes well and makes her proud.

Reflecting on advice she would give others about health, Freeman highlighted self-care and community relationships. "Nutrition is gold. I find being silent in nature incredibly nurturing and healing, and laughter is medicine in itself," she said. She also expressed concern about young people's exposure to screens and peer pressure, and the erosion of traditional cultural practices that, she said, can leave young people disconnected.

Freeman's recovery efforts are ongoing. Medical details beyond the 2023 Achilles surgery and the subsequent knee injury were not disclosed. She has publicly committed to her rehabilitation program, driving herself to sessions multiple times a week as she pursues her goal of running again.