Freeman focues on the next race for now

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A career in politics can wait. So can any thoughts about retirement. And the same goes for a decision about where she's going to live.

On the day after her historic victory in the women's 400 meters, Cathy Freeman was in no mood to ponder her future. All she wanted Tuesday was a good massage and a decent night of sleep before the first-round heats of the 200.

"It's certainly more relaxing going into the deuce. The expectations aren't as high as going into the 400," she said. "I don't know if it gets any better than this. I don't know if I care to search for that answer."

Freeman, 27, said she was not sure whether she'll still be running at the time of the 2004 Athens Games, and brushed aside continuing suggestions by Australian political leaders that she enter public service.

Some politicians have suggested Freeman, the first Aborigine to win an individual Olympic gold medal, could be a powerful voice on indigenous affairs. Kim Beazley, leader of the opposition Labor Party, called Freeman's win "400 meters of national reconciliation" between whites and Aborigines.

"Politics is something that isn't for me just for the moment. I haven't had the time to focus my energy in that field. My running career isn't over yet," she said. "But who knows down the track, when you're supposedly older and wiser."

Freeman is married to an American and spent most of the past six months in the United States and Europe while preparing for the Olympics. But she is trying not to think too far ahead.

"Every second my thoughts take me somewhere else. Retirement? Sure, it's crossed my mind. Living in another country? Sure it's crossed my mind," she said.

"What I love so much about life is that it's a mystery and who knows what lies ahead. My plan right now is just to run the 200 tomorrow. And I want to get a massage right away."