Cathy Freeman and her husband James Murch confirm they are ‘separated’ after 15 years of marriage

Olympic legend Cathy Freeman and her husband James Murch have confirmed their separation.

After 15 years of marriage, Freeman, 51, and Murch, 49, announced on Friday they had “unfortunately separated”.

In a statement provided to the Herald Sun, the pair said their “greatest priority” was co-parenting their 13-year-old daughter.

“After 15 years of marriage we have unfortunately separated. We continue co-parenting and this is our greatest priority,” the statement said.

“We continue sharing a professional and working partnership through Estrella Sports Management.”

“Given this is a personal matter we would greatly appreciate you respecting our privacy and we won’t be making any further comment”.

Freeman and Murch, a stockbroker, met in 2005 and married at Stray Farm on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula in 2009. They welcomed their daughter Ruby in 2011.

Although Freeman is an Australian sporting legend, least of all for her spine-tingling gold medal-winning sprint in the Women’s 400m track event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, she and Murch have largely kept their private lives out of the spotlight.

Freeman became a household name when, at age 16, she became the first Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, by running a leg of the 4x100m relay team which claimed victory at Auckland in 1990. She would go on to win five Commonwealth medals over her career.

In 1996 she became the first Indigenous Australian to win a medal in an individual event at the Olympics claiming silver in the 400m track sprint in Atlanta. She still holds a national record for her efforts in that race.

The 400m specialist was a three-time Olympian, a dual world champion (1997 and 1999), and is the only person to have been named Young Australian of the Year (1990) and Australian of the Year (1998).

She announced her retirement in 2003 and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2005.