If there is a single person other than Liu Xiang who truly knows what it is like to shoulder the impossible burden of a shared dream, then it is the one sitting in the lobby of an hotel in Beijing's business district. Yet Cathy Freeman, the icon in the catsuit at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, was dumbfounded by the China megastar's departure from the Bird's Nest.

“My fiancé, James, thinks I'm an absolute bitch because I'm quite unforgiving about the circumstances,” Freeman said after watching the most dramatic piece of sporting inaction of the Games. “I get concerned when people get injured because usually it's a manifestation of emotional conditions. Pressure gets into your psyche, into your subconscious, and shows itself physically.”

If the pressure of China's cloying attention got to Liu, who was forced to withdraw from the 110metres hurdles, then Freeman was the unflappable star of Sydney, where, having ignited the cauldron at the opening ceremony, she lit the touchpaper by celebrating winning the 400metres gold medal with the Aboriginal flag.

Now 35, she is putting her celebrity to good use via the Catherine Freeman Foundation, helping the dysfunctional communities of Palm Island, off the Queensland coast. It is another sort of pressure. Back in Sydney, Marie-José Pérec, her great rival from France, fled before their showdown and admitted that she had cracked. “I missed the most important rendezvous I ever had with myself,” she said.

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From Liu to Pérec, the pressure on the greatest stage is huge, but Freeman and her old adversary will be at the Bird's Nest today to watch the 400metres final duel between Christine Ohuruogu, of Great Britain, and Sanya Richards, the American.

Who will win? “Sanya Richards,” Freeman said, without hesitation. “Why? Superior performer, confident, great team around her with Clyde Hart, Michael Johnson's old coach. She seems to have enough belief and natural ability.” As for Ohuruogu, Freeman said: “Her story so far has been really interesting. I met her at the Commonwealth Games [and I remember people telling me that she was the future. She won the world title last year, but what was going on? You expect people to love the sport and want to compete all the time.”

While Richards can dip below 50 seconds with ease, there is a steeliness about Ohuruogu that should enable her to cope with 91,000 voyeurs. “What was in my head at the start of that final [in Sydney]?” Freeman said. “Nothing. I didn't hear a thing. People might say it's because my suit covered my ears, but you just switch off.

“And you need belief. From the moment I ran my first race at the age of 5, my family knew I could be a champion. And five years later, I decided I wanted to be one of the greatest athletes in the world. You talk yourself into it and start believing it. You create your own calling.”

Victory for Ohuruogu is unlikely to have the impact that Freeman's did. Having been the victim of racism - “I've had people not get in a lift with me, race organisers refuse to give me a trophy” - she helped to raise the self-esteem of Australia's indigenous population. “A light went on and people felt inspired,” she said. “Suddenly it was, 'There's an Olympic champion and she's indigenous, too.'”

Freeman is now involved heavily with her foundation, which tries to help the 4,000 people on Palm Island, once used by the Government to resettle Aborigines considered “disruptive”. Projects include providing bicycles to encourage the young to go to school. It is a scheme that proves the power of sport. “Running is the ultimate freedom,” Freeman said.

The disappointment of Liu has upset her when we meet. “I feel for the people of China because I know intimately the wonderful repercussions of winning in your own country,” she said. Ohuruogu says that she has watched Freeman's race and learnt lessons. She could not choose a better role model for being brave.

For more information, go to: www.catherinefreemanfoundation.com