Freeman considers end of career

Cathy Freeman’s disappointing comeback looks to have convinced the Olympic 400metres champion to hang up her spikes at the end of the season.

Freeman, who took two years away from athletics following the Olympics for a rest and then to help care for her sick husband Sandy Bodecker, has been sluggish on the track where results have been disappointing.

Her fifth-placed finish at the Prefontaine Classic last month, in a race won by Mexico’s Ana Guevara, has raised doubts in the champion’s mind about whether she can continue to do her reputation justice.

Freeman came home second-last in 51.70 seconds and even her representatives admit she must do plenty of soul-searching.

Chris Giannopoulos, senior executive of her agents IMG, was quoted in the Daily Telegraph saying: “Cathy will make a decision on what she wants to do in her own time. She loves running and she is trying to work out if she still has the desire and hunger to get back to where she once was.

“She is not training with the same intensity, but she is working at a level which means she can step it up whenever she wants.”

She has yet to achieve a World Championship qualifying time for the individual event, although she will be a member of the 4x400m relay team.