By Lori Ewing
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Matildas defender Aivi Luik said the World Cup squad was left stunned by a surprise visit from former athlete Cathy Freeman, whose run to 400m gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics inspired a generation of Australian athletes.
The retired sprint star was the first Australian Aboriginal athlete to win an individual Olympic gold and many of the Matildas listed her performance as a defining moment of their childhood.
Luik said the players were shown a video of Freeman’s thrilling run during a tactics meeting on Wednesday ahead of their friendly against France.
“We plodded all in there, sat down on our chairs and (coach Tony Gustavsson) mentioned that whilst these types of tournaments require a lot of tactics, it also requires a lot of belief and a lot of heart and so we were going to take a little bit of a turn and do something a bit different,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
“By the end of (the video), there was a lot of emotion going around in the room. When they turned the lights on, we turned around and there she was.
“It was a huge surprise to us. A lot of girls were very emotional.”
Australia kick off their World Cup campaign against Ireland in front of more than 80,000 fans at Stadium Australia, the same venue where Freeman lit the Olympic cauldron and powered to gold in her famous one-piece hooded suit 10 days later.
“She’s such a down-to-earth girl, she’s amazing. I still can’t believe that happened,” Luik said.
“A couple years ago we were going through some questions about who your sporting hero is and why – and over half the team said that Cathy Freeman was their hero.”
Freeman, who is now 50 and works with numerous community and charitable organizations, shared her tips for handling the pressure that comes with hosting a major event.
“Obviously she had the weight of the nation on her shoulders and she was just one – and we’re a whole team,” Luik said. “We came away from that feeling a little bit of a weight off our shoulders and just completely inspired.
“My takeaway … was that we know who we are, we know why we do this, and whilst we want to perform and give results for others outside the circle, at the end of the day you believe in yourself and you do it for yourself.
“All athletes do what they do because they love the sport and so to not lose track of that, and that gives you the confidence to go out there and do your job.”
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
