By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
 SYDNEY - How could it get any better than that? How could you improve on the Olympic moments of Cathy Freeman?

 How could it get any better than being selected as the person to light the cauldron at the opening ceremonies and becoming the 100th Australian gold-medal winner and the first Aboriginal athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics in Australian history.

 "I have a fairly creative imagination and I can't think of anything better right now,'' said Cathy Freeman after she did to Michael Johnson what Marion Jones did to Maurice Greene in the 100 metres and stole the 400-metre show and made the Olympics for the host nation at the same time.

 Johnson made history here, too. He became the first man to ever win two Olympic golds in the 400. But he was cool with running his race in the shadow of Freeman.

 "I know the way it is with Cathy and Marion. These Games are theirs,'' said Johnson.

 "I know it was not going to be the same situation as the one in Atlanta was for me,'' said Johnson, winner of both the 200 and 400 metres in his home-country Olympics four years ago.

 "To have that once in your career is something and I had that. Honestly, in some ways it is not something I want to go through again.''

 And he didn't have to light any cauldron in Atlanta. Muhammad Ali had that job.

 He said he may have benefited from Freeman's night of nights since opening night.

 "There was a lot of energy in the stadium. I think I was fortunate to come behind her on the program. It only made our race better,'' he said of the crowd of 112,524.

 Freeman, wearing a speedskating-style track suit on a night cold enough to go skating, had pressure to win here as a result of her cauldon-lighting honour, like few Olympic athletes have ever experienced.

 How would you like to wake up in the morning and see a Third World War-sized headline in the Syndey Morning Herald saying 'The Race Of Our Lives.'

 "I'm pleased I weathered the pressure and won the gold medal,'' she said, adding the key to her win was staying relaxed over the first 200 metres.

 The freeze-frame picture of Freeman to many will be her trip around the track with both an Australian and Aboriginal flag tied together. But the picture of her sitting on the track looking like she'd been hit by a stun gun is the picture I'm going to remember.

 "Relief,'' she said, trying to explain her unusual reaction. "It was just relief.

 "It was overwhelming. I could feel the crowd all over me. I could feel everybody's emotions, the happiness and joy. I had to sit down and get myself comfortable. It was beyond words.''

 There was no trying to downplay what this meant to Australia, not just from a sporting point of view but a political point of view.

 "What happened tonight will be symbolic to a lot of people,'' she said.

 "All I know is that I made a lot of people happy. And I'm happy!''

 How did she do it? How did she handle it?

 "I just tried to stay true to who I am,'' said Freeman who ran the race in a season-best time of 49.11 to beat Lorraine Graham of Jamaica in second and bronze medal winner Katharine Merry of Great Britain. Alvin Harrison of the U.S. and Gregory Haughton of Jamaica won the silver and bronze behind Johnson, who ran his 400 metres in 43.84 without even thinking of going for his world record, set last year in Seville, due to the weather conditions.

 Freeman said in some ways lighting the cauldron was tougher on her than winning the gold.

 "I was really concerned about going in the water,'' she said of carrying the Olympic torch into the middle of a cauldron emerging from a lake created by a waterfall flowing from the top of the stadium.

 "When I lit the Olympic cauldron I was just relieved I didn't fall in the water.

 "Running is like breathing to me,'' she said.

 "In comparison the Olympic gold is more personal to me than lighting the Olympic flame. My Olympic dream happened when I crossed that line.''