I'm not Australian, so perhaps I am not qualified to comment on David's post, but I'm surprised that Cathy Freeman's single gold medal means more to Aussies than Dawn Fraser's gold medals in three consecutive Olympics. As an outsider, there is simply no comparison. Ed Prytherch
----- Original Message ----- From: "dcw23" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Post, Marty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED] uoregon. edu' (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 7:40 PM Subject: Re: t-and-f: Cathy Freeman retires > Some quotes from Mike Hurst's article today. Connor is Keith Connor the > national head coach of Athletics Australia. > > " No competitor in Olympic history had ever lit the cauldron at the Opening > Ceremony and then gone on to win an individual event at the same Games until > Freeman won her gold medal on September 25, 2000, a night described as the > greatest in athletics history. > Connor said: ``She has done what no other Australian has done which is take > everything on her shoulders and deliver. > ``Others have won Wimbledon or Olympic gold medals but they didn't have to > take on the expectation of the whole nation.'' " > > > The key is those words "whole nation". I don't know if you are from > Australia? From the post below, probably not. She is probably the only > athlete we have ever had that is a household name in EVERY household. She is > an inspiration to people who aren't involved in track and she has inspired > countless children to take to the track. > > Remember, world records are not the mark of the greatest athletes. The > greatest athletes are remembered by their greatest performances, and no > other performance will ever eclipse that gold medal in Sydney for the > majority of Australians. > > David >
