Athletics: Olympic star Freeman taking time out

Olympic 400m champion Cathy Freeman will not defend her title at the World Championships in Canada in August.

The 1997 and 1999 world champion is going to take the rest of the season off.

Her next major championships will be next year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

"I'm just looking to have a rest," Freeman said. "I'm a little bit tired from pushing myself every day.

"It's a question of fire in the belly and fire in the heart."

By taking a year off, Freeman misses the opportunity to chase a third world title in Edmonton but she said that the time off would hopefully give her another five or six years in the sport.

The 28-year-old Australian refuted rumours she was pregnant and added: "I'm going to spend time with my family and just have a break really to recover and get refreshed and be able to come back a newer and hungrier athlete."

Freeman's coach Peter Fortune supported her decision to take a sabbatical.

"We think it's the best thing at the moment," he said.

"As you can imagine after the Olympics, the whole motivation thing had to be re-looked at. I'm quite positive she'll be back as good as ever."