Cathy Freeman opens up on lasting 'connection and emotion' tied to Sydney 2000 triumph

Olympic hero Cathy Freeman believes she will never fully understand the lasting impact her gold medal run in the women's 400m final at Sydney 2000 has had on the nation.

Appearing on Nine's Today on the eve of Paris 2024, host Karl Stefanovic revealed that Nine used vision of Freeman's stunning run as part of its pitch for the broadcast rights for five Olympic Games through to 2032.

"When the Nine Network pitched to the OC to to get the rights for the Games — no one knows this but — we played your race and I got emotional watching it again and so did they," he said.

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"I don't know if you know, but you must have a sense of it, but what you did touched so many people around the world."

Asked if she had grasped the true gravity of her feat more than two decades on, Freeman conceded that she could not and probably never would.

"No," she said with a laugh.

"Short answer is, no.

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"I'm a bush kid, barefoot, wood and dirt girl but certainly all these years later, in my infinite wisdom, I certainly can respect the connection and the emotion that gets all flurried up in people's hearts and minds, and it really is a gift."

Carrying the pressure to perform on home soil as one of the faces of the 2000 Games, Freeman admitted that the occasion only fueled her.

"I can create a burden all on my own anyway," she said

"But when it came to the running, it was freedom — complete freedom for me.

"Athletes like myself kind of thrive on the Olympic environment to be truthful, we love it."

Reflecting on the 49.11 seconds of "freedom" that saw her cement her place in Australian sporting history, Freeman acknowledged that her watershed moment was built on more than one good lap of a stadium.

"That was a 17-year lead-in," she said.

"You watch these athletes every four years and there is so much that goes on behind the scenes."

Now, with a new generation of Australian athletes presented with the same opportunity to create their own defining moment in Paris, Freeman encouraged every competitor to remember their roots and background.

"Never forget who you are, where you're from, and who you belong to. I think that's really important because that kept me centred and grounded," she said.

"There's a lot of noise around and excitement and emotion, and it's what you want in an Olympic environment without a doubt. But if you can find it in you where you completely feel at home, I can promise you, it can make the journey a far more pleasurable one."