Australian icon Cathy Freeman has taken fans inside the inner workings of her mind on that historic night in Sydney, almost 24 years ago.
With almost every eyeball on the planet fixated on her, Freeman wrote herself into Australian and Olympic folklore when she stormed home to win the women’s 400m final on her home turf at the 2000 Games.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Cathy Freeman admits to ‘really vulnerable’ moment before Olympic gold.
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It was, and very much still is, regarded as possibly the greatest moment in the history of Australian sport as the then 27-year-old carried the hopes of a nation on her shoulders.
Appearing on The Front Bar on Thursday night, the Aussie treasure took fans into her mindset before, during and after the race.
Watch the full interview from The Front Bar on 7plus
And while she looked stone-faced and focused on the night, she admitted on Thursday that the nerves were there.
“I was really vulnerable right before I left the coach, and I said to him, ‘Are you still going to love me if I don’t win this thing?’” Freeman said on Seven.
“It’s funny; after so many years, these memories come back and you sort of go, ‘Oh yeah, that is what happened’. But then as soon as I got out onto the track, the training takes over.”
While the race will always be remembered for Freeman’s heroics, she didn’t get to perform them against her great rival and triple Olympic gold medallist, Marie-José Pérec.
Pérec and Freeman were set to go at it in a clash for the ages until the French champion pulled out shortly before the race, making a swift exit from the country to deny the world of the ultimate 400 metre showdown.
“I have never sat down with her and asked her about it personally. (But) I am defensive of the lady — she’s a champion; she’s an absolute champion,” Freeman said of Pérec.
“She hadn’t raced, really, for the previous four years. She’s a triple Olympic gold medallist, she’s an extraordinary athlete — always will be.”
Bruce McAvaney’s call of the race is almost just as famous as the race itself — his “What a legend, what a champion” line having been replayed time and time again over the years.
But on Thursday night, Freeman called the race herself, retrospectively, from her own perspective.
“I’m feeling calm here, I’m feeling strong,” she said as a replay of the race was shown.
“I’ve got to get out — 30m, I’ve got to make it as fast as I can. Although it’s not the same as being in a race with Pérec.
“And then as soon as I get to the back straight, the only way to describe it: top gear on a stationary bike — your legs are turning over and there’s no exertion, there’s no real effort.
“So; coasting, coasting, I’m feeling the other competitors and it’s feeling right, it’s feeling OK. And then (with) 200 to go, or 150 to go, I start working my upper body, pumping the fists and working harder, digging into the ground.
“I’m waiting for someone to take it on and, at this point, I know no one’s really that keen to want to win, and I just take off. And I feel carried by everyone.”
Not only was Freeman Australia’s greatest hope for gold on the track, she was also the torchbearer for Australia at the opening ceremony.
Asked how she coped with all that attention and pressure, the famously shy superstar said: “I didn’t”.
“I was more concerned with getting up the steps, across the water, staying calm,” she said of her torch-bearing duties.
“It all worked out in the end.”
Freeman was always destined for greatness in the sport, and she knew it, even from a young age.
The Aussie legend had a big poster on her wall as a child that summed her winner’s mentality up.
“It read — and this is a case of aiming for the stars and landing on the moon — ‘I am the world’s greatest athlete’,” Freeman said.
“I’m guarded and I’m shy, but I think as a competitor, the results speak for themselves.”
Ever the perfectionist, Freeman’s only regret from her incredible Olympic gold medal-winning race is that she didn’t break either of the world or Olympic records.
“It’s like an itch that’s always going to be there,” she said.
“Retired athletes get like that. And so when you see modern-day athletes compete, you sort of wish you were competing now because the standard’s so high.
“I was one of these athletes who competed with people; I needed to feel people and that human experience. Unlike other athletes, who can compete against the clock.
“It is what it is — I still got what I set out to get.”