As for Freeman being the "greatest" Australian athlete, aren't we dealing with semantics here? Maybe "most memorable" or "most inspirational" would be a better phrase to describe Freeman's place in Australian history?
I would agree with Walt's characterization, but to say that someone is a country's greatest athlete versus having provided the country's greatest athletic moment or memory are not mere semantic quibbles. In one case you are assessing the magnitude of the career athletic achievements of an individual apart from what it may have subjectively "meant" to anyone else. In the other case you are judging the cultural significance of a single performance.
I wouldn't presume to tell the Aussies what Cathy Freeman does or doesn't mean to them. It's their national memory - let them enjoy it. But Cathy's actual athletic achievement wasn't much different from that of say Debbie Flintoff-King.
Kurt Bray
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