Athletics: Husband with cancer takes priority says Freeman

The moment Cathy Freeman learned her husband had cancer, the Commonwealth Games paled into insignificance.

Freeman confirmed yesterday that she would now not attempt to qualify for the individual 400m in Manchester, although there was a slim chance she could still run the 4x400m relay there in July.

But Australia's only track and field superstar remained as determined as ever to chase a third 400m world championship next year and defend her Olympic title in Athens once her husband, 49-year-old senior Nike executive Sandy Bodecker, made a full recovery.

"It was a big shock, but people survive these sort of things," Freeman, 29, told a packed media conference in Melbourne.

"It's going to take a lot of chemotherapy and radiation - it's a massive tumour in the back of his mouth."

Only last Friday, an upbeat Freeman completed a training session and declared she had finally recovered from the stress reaction in her left thigh that had ruled her out of the Commonwealth Games trials in March.

She was confident of running the qualifying time of 51.37s - almost 3s slower than her personal best - to book a spot in the individual 400m in Manchester.

Later that day she learned of her husband's illness and almost immediately made the decision not to run any more individual races this year as she focused on his health.

Freeman, who will continue her training regime, said she did not need her husband or anyone else telling her what was the right thing to do.

"I just can't go anywhere, I don't want to. I'm not interested in doing anything except seeing my husband get better right now," she said.

"Racing was never the most important thing. I love my husband and care for him."

She and Bodecker were married in September 1999.

Freeman took a 15-month sabbatical after winning gold at the Sydney Olympics and the thigh injury was exacerbated by her heavy workload on returning to the track. But she has no doubts she can come back again for next year's world championships and the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"I'm pretty tough and back in February I got damned fit pretty quickly," she said.

In Freeman's absence, Katerina Dressler will be Australia's only entrant in the Games400m.

Coach Peter Fortune was adamant that Freeman had the physical capacity to return to the sport at the highest level next year as a 30-year-old.

"I always said this year 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 decision has not greatly enhanced New Zealand's medal chances at the Manchester Games.

Athletics New Zealand selector Tony Rogers said Freeman's absence was a bonus for Jane Arnott, but she still faced a tough task.

"It's one less person to be in the final, but the Jamaicans, English, and Nigerians will be very strong," he said.

The Jamaicans boast world No 1 Lorraine Fenton in their imposing squad and England have Catherine Murphy - who beat Arnott in this year's Australian championships - as well as Catherine Merry and Donna Fraser.

Murphy has a best this year of 51.50s, while Arnott's quickest time was 52.4s at the national championships in March.

South African Heide Seyerling is also in hot form with a best of 51.51s.

"It's one of the toughest women's events," Rogers said.

Arnott, the top-ranked 400m runner in Oceania this year, was added to the New Zealand squad this month despite narrowly missing the qualifying time of 52.3s.

Her career-best time of 52.23s was recorded in early 1999.

The Auckland-based Southlander leaves for Europe tomorrow to compete at a series of events leading up to Manchester.

- AGENCIES