Cathy Freeman believes Liu Xiang should treat the Beijing Olympics as another day in the office and ignore the pressure placed on him as China's leading track gold medal hope.

If anybody knows how the Olympic and world high hurdles champion Liu feels as the Games approach, it is the 35-year-old Australian Aborigine, who lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics before winning the 400 metres gold.

"For me, I couldn't afford to get too sentimental about how I made people feel, it's such a personal time in his life, he shouldn't compromise," she said.

"He's got to maintain his priorities, keep his perspective. He's already proven that he can perform under pressure and he should pretty much take that model and use it. It's just another day at the office ... the emotion will just carry him through the Olympics."

As China's top track athlete, Liu is still one of the favorites to light the cauldron at the Beijing opening ceremony on August 8, even if his coach has said the 24-year-old would not have time for the rehearsals.

"If he were to walk into this room right now, I think I'd tell him to do what he's most comfortable with," said Freeman. "For me, I was absolutely honoured. I didn't see it as a distraction or as a negative, I was so confident in my abilities as an athlete ... there was nothing that was going to detract from my performance."

Freeman is saddened by the fall of American Marion Jones, who won three gold medals in Sydney but lost them when she admitted last year to using steroids.

"Of course I was disappointed, of course. I'm an Olympic champion and I don't want people to think that I've gone down the same way as Marion has," she said.

"Marion's a friend of mine. As human beings we all make mistakes, we all take the wrong road at times. She was the superstar of the Sydney Olympics and people like to see themselves mirrored in superstars, so when the star takes a fall, we all take a fall."

Freeman's role at the Sydney Games was credited with helping heal some of the historical divisions of the Australian nation. She is aware, therefore, of how the Olympics can be a force for good and was saddened by the protests surrounding the Beijing torch relay earlier this year.

"Sport is supposed to be that language that transcends all differences, so we should allow ourselves that," she said. "This is a movement where the poorest countries are able to be represented on an equal footing with the richest. The Olympics is the greatest sporting event in the world, we should not lose track of that.

"I only have to reflect back on the victory lap in Sydney, oh gee. The best in people really comes out and it's a really contagious energy. I wish we could bottle it, it would sell like hot cakes."

(Shanghai Daily July 3, 2008)