I would firstly like to acknowledge and pay my respect to the past, present and emerging traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live.
As a Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Ambassador, I’m thrilled to be a part of the MJA sports medicine issue, published to coincide with the Games. With over 70 nations and territories of the Commonwealth participating, it’s the biggest global sporting event hosted in Australia in over a decade.
It’s a time to celebrate and be inspired by the incredible commitment and dedication that these exceptional athletes will demonstrate to the world. Behind every elite athlete is a team of highly skilled professionals, coaches, doctors and allied health professionals, supporting the preparation of the individual and team efforts of the competing nations.
I hope these role models will motivate up-and-coming athletes to achieve their sporting goals as well as encourage ordinary Australians to become more active, participate in sports and consciously make the effort to move each day.
This year the team from the Australasian Medical Publishing Company, publisher of the MJA, will again be staying active by running in the annual City2Surf in support of education programs delivered by the Cathy Freeman Foundation for Indigenous children across remote communities in Australia. Education is a critical pathway to increasing access to opportunities and improving the health and wellbeing of our community. In 2017, a record 16 students graduated Year 12 in the Cathy Freeman Foundation’s partner communities. This is a 25% increase from the previous year and shows the long term impact that our work is making within remote Indigenous Australian communities.
Education changes lives. If I draw on my own experiences and if I hadn’t have gone to school, I would not have been on a pathway to realising my potential. Particularly as an athlete, but also as an individual.
- Cathy Freeman