Cathy Freeman has taken a decision that most people have been anticipating for quite a while now. I had a long chat with her a year after she took gold in Sydney and she just was not the same person.
You cannot be after you go through what she went through.
She said then the main thing that would prevent her getting back to the top of her sport would be finding the motivation.
 |  When I first saw her run I thought she would make a good 800m runner! |
She felt she would struggle with that - I think anybody would after what happened in Sydney. Most people are able to adapt their lives to becoming a world class athlete, but becoming a national icon is another matter.
In Sydney she not only had to cope with the challenge of winning the 400m, but had to carry the nation's hopes, and even the whole Games, on her shoulders.
Her life changed completely that day so any aspirations she had beyond that, be it running faster or winning more gold medals, did not seem as important anymore.
She probably woke up a lot of days afterwards and thought, "Why do I want to do this anymore?'
But then the natural competitor would come through again and she was probably caught between two stools.
The competitive side got the better of her last year and she wanted to compete at the Commonwealth Games, and she made a stab at it again this year.
| Freeman struggled for motivation after her Sydney win |
But if she couldn't get back to anything like her best, which she was obviously struggling to do, then that was not going to be good enough for Cathy Freeman. I was first introduced to Cathy in Australia when she was a shy 12-year-old. She wouldn't say boo to a goose.
You can always see when someone can run but I have to admit that when I first saw her I thought she would make a good 800m runner!
She never looked like a sprinter, and I even remember thinking the same thing when she won her first Commonwealth gold in 1994.
Since then she has become one of the biggest stars of her event, and athletics itself.
Her retirement will leave a huge hole in women's 400m running, especially with Marie-Jose Perec also unlikely to be at the World Championships in Paris in August.
Ana Guevara will be the strong favourite but anyone who is able to run under 50 seconds must be in with a chance of a medal.
But while women's 400m athletes might see Freeman's retirement as a bonus, athletics needs as many stars as it can get at the moment.
And Freeman was one of the biggest of them all.
MMIX
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