No domestic action for Freeman
From our wire services
11jan01

OLYMPIC 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman is highly unlikely to race
anywhere in Australia this season.

Freeman took a three-month sabbatical after her unforgettable display
at the Olympic Games in Sydney, where she took centre stage by
lighting the flame at the opening ceremony and then carried the hopes
of a nation to win gold.

She only returned to training with coach Peter Fortune in Melbourne
on January 1 and is still many weeks away from full fitness.

That almost certainly rules her out of the domestic grand prix
series, which starts in Newcastle on February 3 and runs until mid-
March.

Fortune also flagged the likelihood that his star charge would skip
the March 23-25 national titles in Brisbane, which double as the
qualifying meet for the August world championships in Canada.

"Nobody could begrudge Cathy having a bit of a break and a holiday
after the Olympics, it was a very hectic year," Fortune said.

"She's back into it now, it's going well but she still has a lot of
fitness to get back.

"It's fair to say it's unlikely she'll run domestically.

"By the time of the nationals, it's possible she could have a run but
at the moment we're just going to work away.

"Running when she's not ready doesn't do anyone any good."

Freeman will again use the major European meets in the northern
hemisphere summer as preparation for her tilt at a third successive
400m world title in Edmonton.

Athletics Australia has a policy requiring competitors make
themselves available for a mimimum number of domestic meets, it was
six last year, to ensure their eligibility for Olympics and world
championships.

But AA is likely to continue its recent policy of pre-selecting the
medallists at the previous major world meet.

That would mean Sydney medallists Freeman, Jai Taurima (silver in
long jump) and Tatiana Grigorieva (silver in pole vault) would be
exempt from qualifying for the 2001 world championships squad.

"I don't think AA would be too rigid about making Cathy run a minimum
number of grand prixs," Fortune said.

"Nobody expects an injured person to run a grand prix and for
somebody who has won a gold medal at an Olympics, the way I
understand it they're pretty flexible.

"When it's possible, Cathy certainly loves to run at home and she's
always supported the domestic series." High performance manager
Laurie Woodman said AA was still reviewing its selection criteria
which includes the 'six meet rule'.

"I don't want to create the impression that there's one rule for some
and one rule for others," Woodman said.

"But, certainly, Cathy has done everything possible for Australia for
the last 10 years.

"She's obviously felt the need for a break after the Olympics and I
think that's fair enough."