C'wealth Games will be
Freeman's swansong

Australia's Cathy Freeman will probably retire if she wins a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, the Olympic 400 metres champion said on Saturday.

Games officials announced at a function that Freeman, who lives in Melbourne, would be the promotional face of the competition which starts in exactly three years' time.

"I want to win running in 2006, there's no question. This could be my swansong," Freeman told reporters in Melbourne.

"I think it's going to be a very perfect conclusion to my running career. It should be magnificent, nothing short of spectacular," the 30-year-old added.

Freeman lit the cauldron to open the 2000 Sydney Olympics and said she found it hard to describe the feeling of walking into a packed stadium for such an event.

"It (Melbourne 2006) is going to be absolutely amazing. I can't really articulate it," said Freeman, who appeared happy and relaxed three weeks after announcing her marriage split from American sportswear executive Alexander Bodecker.

"There's a bit of pressure on me, though, but that's alright. It could be my swansong. I'll be 33," added Freeman, who was wearing a full-length white cat-suit on stage.

"I think so (retirement). You never know though. We'll have to wait and see.

SPECIAL MEANING

"Especially in a championships where it all began for me (in the 1990 Auckland Games), it has special meaning, absolutely."

Freeman has been largely absent from international athletics since a capacity crowd of 112,000 roared her to victory in Sydney.

Australia's first Aboriginal track and field Olympic athlete at the 1992 Barcelona Games, Freeman had made her international debut at Auckland as a 4x100 metres relay gold medallist.

Freeman, who won 200 and 400 metres gold medals at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, won 400 metres world titles in 1997 and 1999 and will seek a third world title in Paris in August.

Australia's Victoria State Government Commonwealth Games Minister Justin Madden told reporters: "I'm sure the people of Australia will want to see Cathy there on the Melbourne Cricket Ground finish her career on the highest of notes with a gold medal."

Madden released a visual identity Games logo featuring a green figure and a red figure in dancing and running poses.

"The visual identity seeks to capture the hallmarks of the Commonwealth Games and combine them with Melbourne's passion for sport and the arts," a Games statement said.