The Catherine Freeman Foundation

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Catherine Freeman Becomes Laureus World Sports Academy Member
Jun 27, 04:31 PM

LONDON, June, 2008 – Australian Olympic track queen Catherine Freeman has become the newest member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique collection of the world’s legendary sportsmen and sportswomen.

Freeman’s gold medal winning victory in the 400 metres provided one of the most powerful images of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won her the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award in 2001. For the Australians, she became the icon of the Olympics, after she had been chosen to light the Olympic flame during the Opening Ceremony. She became the only person in history to light the Olympic flame and go on to win a gold medal at the same Games.

Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: “I am delighted to welcome Cathy Freeman as a new Academy member. Her victory in Sydney in that unforgettable green and yellow hooded running suit is one of the most enduring memories in Olympic history. She has already been a great supporter of Laureus activities and now, as an Academy member, I know she will be even more energetic.”

Catherine Freeman said: “I’m honoured and excited to be part of an amazing and very special organisation that is really making a difference in the world. Sport is a powerful language as it has the power to connect just about everybody. It’s the sports people, who have touched audiences’ hearts and minds, who should be most comfortable sharing back their successes to continue inspiring others. I absolutely am looking forward to sharing some pretty amazing experiences with folks through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. I have no doubt it will all be a once in a lifetime experience and truly unforgettable.”

Catherine Freeman becomes the 46th member of the Laureus World Sports Academy. The other members are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mika Häkkinen, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexey Nemov, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.