SYDNEY : Matildas defender Aivi Luik said the World Cup squad was left stunned by a surprise visit from former athlete Cathy Freeman, whose run to 400m gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics inspired a generation of Australian athletes.The retired sprint star was the first Australian Aboriginal athlete to win a
SYDNEY : Matildas defender Aivi Luik said the World Cup squad was left stunned by a surprise visit from former athlete Cathy Freeman, whose run to 400m gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics inspired a generation of Australian athletes.
Luik said the players were shown a video of Freeman's thrilling run during a tactics meeting on Wednesday ahead of their friendly against France. "By the end of , there was a lot of emotion going around in the room. When they turned the lights on, we turned around and there she was.Australia kick off their World Cup campaign against Ireland in front of more than 80,000 fans at Stadium Australia, the same venue where Freeman lit the Olympic cauldron and powered to gold in her famous one-piece hooded suit 10 days later.
"Obviously she had the weight of the nation on her shoulders and she was just one - and we're a whole team," Luik said."We came away from that feeling a little bit of a weight off our shoulders and just completely inspired.
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