Twenty-two years to the day since Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron to open the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the legendary gold medallist has no desire to thrust her talented daughter into any such spotlight.
Freeman was thrilled to be back on the harbour on Thursday to promote the Sydney Running Festival.
"I feel really excited to be here today. I'm still excited about that day 22 years ago," she said.
Winning gold in the the 400-metres on September 15, 2000, under the intense pressure of being the heavy home favourite and face of the Games, remains forever etched in Australian sports folklore.
Freeman said she too will never forget the whole experience.
"For me, it was probably seeing my parents, my family, in the victory lap. That was exciting," said the now 49-year-old.
"I don't know how I found them but obviously they knew where I was.
"It was lovely seeing them in the large crowd.
"But it's also in the private moments where you look and think 'gee whiz, that was interesting' and I'm glad I'm still feeling good about things and am satisfied."
But whether or not Freeman wants the same for her 11-year-old daughter Ruby Anne Susie Murch is unknown.
With the same iconic running style as her mother, Ruby recently stunned onlookers while blitzing her 200m rivals in record pace at her school athletics carnival.
A video widely circulated shows Ruby streaking away at Melbourne's Murrumbeena athletics field, where she also competed in the 100m, relay and high jump.
But questions about Ruby were strictly off limit on Thursday, with Freeman's PR people saying she preferred only to talk about her own athletics prowess.
"For me, running always went beyond being physical," she said.
"It was more about something that generated a sense of inner peace.
"That might come across as a bit contrary to that whole competitive nature side of running but the actual motion of running is like poetry to me."
