Cathy Freeman Reflects on Lighting the Sydney 2000 Olympic Cauldron

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When Cathy Freeman was asked to have lunch with “one of Australia’s greatest and most senior administrators” John Coates, she knew it wasn’t a casual get-together.

“He’s a man you take seriously,” she told NITV.

“And I know from experience, he does not muck around.”

For the same reason, the Kuku Yalanji athlete knew it wasn’t an offer made in jest when the then-president of the Australian Olympic Committee asked her to light the Olympic Flame.

“I just was not ready for it at all,” she said, “such a significant and powerful gesture, opening the games.

“I said it [was] okay if he changed his mind!”

The lighting of the Olympic Flame is a symbolic action that has come to define the opening of the modern games.

Beginning in the ancient site of Olympia, the torch is carried across the world by athletes and community members, finally to be brought to the stadium where the competition for glory will play out over the following two weeks.

The final torch bearer lights the cauldron, which burns unceasingly for those two weeks, the symbol of the games.

Often that honour is given to a respected and decorated athlete of the home country.

Sydney 2000 - Opening Ceremony cathy freeman flame olympics

The lighting of the cauldron is a hugely significant moment in the Olympic Games, adding yet more pressure to Freeman’s preparations for sporting’s biggest stage. Credit: Dimitri Iundt/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

For Freeman, who had shone at Commonwealth Games and international competitions but was yet to win a single Olympic medal, it was unexpected.

“I could list off a long list of names of those who are worthy absolutely worthy of lighting the cauldron,” she said.

“That’s why I said to Coatesy, ‘It’s a great honour to be on the shortlist, but if you change your mind [it’s OK]!

“But it’s such a serious question, and I accepted it.

“It’s a serious honour, and sometimes you just have to accept honours.

“Take the gift and be grateful, as my mother says.”

Preparing to compete on sporting’s greatest stage involves immense pressure. The mental fortitude of elite athletes is tested as they head towards that moment.

The added pressure of performing this sacred ritual before the eyes of the entire world required Freeman’s reserves of strength, especially as the identity of the cauldron lighter is a tightly-kept secret.

“I broke my promise. I had to tell my two training partners,” Freeman revealed.

“They needed to understand because we basically lived in each other’s pockets, training together, living together.

“They became like family … [and] we had to lean on each other and I needed their support.”

The moment of receiving the flame from a childhood idol, athletics champion Debbie Flintoff-King, in front of thousands of screaming spectators is one that Freeman remembers clearly.

“It ended up being quite a stressful moment, because people are under pressure to make sure things work well, and you know how many people around the world are watching,” she said.

“Hearing people’s responses in the stadium was lovely.

“But I was just thinking about being safe walking up the stairs, walking across the water surrounded by fire.”

Lighting the cauldron in an instantly iconic flame-proof suit, Freeman entered the history. Greater glory was yet to come with her gold medal-winning run, but in that moment, she had already done enough.

“When I pulled back and I took a look at the bigger picture … you know, this is going to mean a lot to our people, and it’s going to be great for everybody.”