Dec. 23--The years-old mystery of Cathy Freeman's dazzling white suit has taken a new twist.
The Lycra outfit was custom-made for Freeman -- a famed Australian runner -- to wear as she stood before a global television audience and ignited the torch at the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony. Later that night, it disappeared.
Officials figured that a stadium worker grabbed it from Freeman's dressing room and mistakenly threw it out. They had a replica made to put in a museum.
Now, some 14 years later, the original suit may have turned up.
It appears to have been mailed anonymously to the Melbourne Cricket Club, which turned it over to police, the Australian Olympic Committee said Wednesday.
"It's a suit we never thought we'd see again and we're just delighted that Santa has delivered an early Christmas present to the Olympic movement," said Fiona de Jong, the national committee's secretary-general. "If it is indeed the suit then it's a wonderful moment for Australian sporting history."
One clue that they have the right garment:
Because the final torch bearer is always kept secret, designer Jennifer Irwin did not receive Freeman's measurements until the night before the opening ceremony. Hurrying to finish, she sewed the Olympic rings upside down.
Cricket club officials told the Australian committee that the suit it received by mail had inverted rings.
