Asthma is treatable and well can be controlled.
Australians are a fantastic bunch of people but the attention can be overwhelming for someone like me.
Being overseas at the time it all kind of happened was perfect because I had no idea that it was going to attract so much media attention and provoke these lovely people calling in and offering up their opinions and advice.
Between 1991 and 1997 I had really serious asthma.
For athletes traditionally it's such a fantastic stepping stone to greater things down the track and in the future. Don't undermine the Commonwealth Games!
I am very determined and the sport is my passion. I believe I am born for running.
I decided that I was going to go to the Olympics to see if I had made the right decision to retire because I knew that if I'd made the mistake of retiring I would know during and after those Games in Athens.
I definitely do things on my terms, it may not seem that way but I actually do.
I do not have any official responsibilities related to the Australian Olympic Committee or the Federation of Athletic Associations since I am too busy with my private business.
I don't agree with everything Madonna's done but she is fearless.
I don't have a lot of regrets in my life.
I don't like people looking at me; I hate the attention.
I feel like I've reached an age where I can relax a little bit with the knowledge of what I've been through, take all that experience and use it. I love the challenge of trying to get back to where I've been, and beyond it.
I have a friend who, if she has a bad hair day, it affects her whole mood because it is part of her sexuality, her confidence. I don't have that problem any more.
I have time to breathe, time to be myself more often, I am a lot more relaxed and less guarded.
I lie around the floor with my cats Billy and Jazz or watch DVDs with my best friends.
I like being in the workforce; it keeps me grounded.
I like looking feminine and I enjoy being a role model. I enjoy being a woman. It all comes down to having the confidence to be who you are.
I made my first Australian senior team when I was 16, first Olympics when I was 19, and I retired. I'm 32, I retired four years ago, so a good third of my life or nearly a third of my life has been all about running.
I made publicity contracts with Nike, several broadcasting companies and airline companies within Australia.
I make no apologies.
I quite clearly have made the right decision in my heart, retirement was the way.
I think the greatest amount of pressure is the pressure I place on myself. So in a way I chose to be alone.
I took only twice a time-out, once, when I was hurt, and a second time, when I much felt I was exhausted out of personal reasons.
I want to keep my private life private.
I was always surrounded by expectation from the very first race I ran as a 5-year-old.
I was convinced that olympic gold medal lay in the range of the possible. This victory was a realistic goal.
I was going to shave it. It went in two parts. I got a bob first but it kept falling all over my face. Then it was off, short. The main reason it was long was because my mother cut it short when I was little and I was trying to make up for that.
I was running since I was 10. Since grade one at school people looked at me and thought, oh gosh she can really run, she's a natural.
I would definitely take on that role, taking a stand on issues, like the government giving an apology or acknowledging indigenous people.
I'd like to see as many sports as I can because I have never had the chance to enjoy the other sports in the past.
I'll just let time happen. I don't have to articulate what may be or what may not be. I don't even do that to myself.
I'm certainly not ready to go changing the world overnight right now. I'm completely uninformed about a lot of our issues, a lot of the nation's issues, not just Indigenous issues.
I'm doing something now where I'm going to have to learn so much and that takes time nurturing, those kinds of relationships.
I'm drinking lots of herbal tea.
I'm learning in my own sort of quiet, out-of-the-spotlight kind of way. I certainly have my general point of view about the government, and the future of our children. I'm certainly learning all the time, I'm happy to be an onlooker for now.
I'm not a marriage expert, quite clearly.
I'm so lucky. I have such a great support system. All I have to do is run.
I've had my fair share of being dismissed. But I'm only about to turn 30. And when I finish running, I'm going to be a dangerous woman.
I've proved before when Freeman has had a lot of personal turmoil, she's managed to keep it together on the track. I pride myself on that.
It is my second visit to Korea since the International Junior Athletic Championships in 1992. Both then and now, I felt Korea is an interesting country and the people are very kind.
Money makes life easier but I don't want to be rich, not at all.
My feelings tried to control me on my run. I had to concentrate fully on forthcoming running and success. I wanted to triumph.
My last real race was at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
My mind is pretty made up that life for Cathy Freeman will be as an unmarried woman from now on.
My story has resonated around the world. I am just Catherine, I just like to run. And I'll run with opportunities.
Peace, unity and harmony!
People could see in me who I am now, an Olympic champ, the best in the world.
The Athens Olympics will be meaningful even though I cannot participate as an athlete, since I can participate in the flame relay all over the world.
The last sort of really low-key race I ran, I realized with about a hundred metres to go, that my heart just wasn't in it. I wasn't trying my hardest, I didn't care to compete against the girls I was up against. That spoke a lot about where my heart was taking me-which was off the track.
The thing I do best is laugh.
There are some things that will always remain the business of Alexander and I. This is our life we're talking about.
They'll appreciate an Olympic gold medallist trying to live her life as normally as possible.
This occasion is personally very meaningful and I hope to visit Korea again if I have the chance.
When I was 18 years old, about to develop my sportsman career, the asthma complaints became already some years before.
When I'm in a bad mood, I don't listen.
With Alexander's cancer, I was definitely brought to my knees for the first time because of the fear factor.
You got to try and reach for the stars or try and achieve the unreachable.
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