Freeman
cancels season, as husband is diagnosed with cancer
AFP
30 May 2002 -
Sydney - Australia's Olympic 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman has announced
that she has pulled out of this summer's Commonwealth Games in England, to look
after her husband who has cancer.
Freeman said her husband, American sportswear executive Alexander (Sandy) Bodecker, has a tumour in the back of his mouth and needs chemotherapy and radiation treatment for 5-7 weeks.
Bodecker, 49, is 20 years older than Freeman and the couple have shared their time between his base in Portland, Oregon, and her homes in Australia and London. They married in the US in September 1999.
"My husband has cancer," Freeman told a press conference in Melbourne. "It's a massive tumour in the back of his mouth. He is being treated in Melbourne. It's just going to take a lot of chemotherapy and radiation, 5-7 weeks here in Melbourne."
Freeman said she would remain in Melbourne where she would continue training but had cancelled her European racing schedule.
"It was a big shock, but people survive these sort of things and anybody who becomes involved with Catherine Freeman has to be prepared to be really determined and my husband's going to be just fine."
Only last Friday, Freeman completed a training session here and declared she had finally recovered from the stress reaction in her left thigh, which had ruled her out of the Commonwealth Games trials in March.
She was confident of running the qualifying time of 51.37 seconds -- almost three seconds slower than her personal best -- to book a spot in the individual 400m in Manchester.
Later that day she learnt of Bodecker's illness and almost immediately decided not to run any more individual races this year.
"At the moment my highest priority is to remain by my husband's side, and to give him as much love and support as possible.
"Racing was never the most important thing. Making the most of who I was, was and always will be. Which is why I want to be here and love my husband and care for him. I don't really see myself leaving my husband's side right now."
However, she did not rule out entirely the possibility of running in Manchester.
"If I am really fortunate I might run in the relay in Manchester. We'll just have to wait and see."
She said her decision to withdraw was not related to the leg injury, which has slowed her comeback after a year off following the Sydney Olympics.
"My leg is fine, but I'm not prepared to leave my husband's side," she said
Freeman, also a double World champion, said she still aimed to compete at the IAAF World Championships next year in Paris and go on to defend her title at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
"I'm pretty tough and back in February I got pretty damned fit pretty quickly," she said.
Coach Peter Fortune was confident that Freeman could return to the sport at the highest level next year as a 30-year-old.
"I always said this was the year to get back and next year and the year after were the years to do really well and that is still my stance," he said.
Freeman's place in the Australian team for Manchester (July 25 to August 4) was uncertain as she missed the Commonwealth Games trials because of her injury and she had yet to run a qualifying time for an individual event. She had been selected only in the Australian 4x400 metres relay squad.
Freeman, 29, took a 15-month sabbatical after winning gold in the 400m at the Sydney Olympics. She made her comeback this year but lost several races against relatively obscure athletes.
Freeman achieved the 200 and 400 double at the 1994 Commonwealth Games but missed the 1998 Games because of injury. She was 400 metres World champion in 1997 and 1999. At the Barcelona Games in 1992 she was the first Aborigine to represent Australia at Olympic athletics.
Athletics Australia chief executive officer Simon Allatson said family had to come first.
"Some issues are more important than sport. Even though there have been some famous coaches in the past who have said that sport is everything, I think that family is far more important," he said. "Clearly losing an athlete of the calibre of Cathy is a blow."
