Australia’s Cathy Freeman was crowned Olympic 400m champion today, with Britain’s Katharine Merry fending off team-mate Donna Fraser for bronze.

Freeman fulfilled the expectations of the 110,000-strong crowd in the Olympic Stadium and the entire nation as she triumphed to add Games gold to her two world championships.

But Merry added to Britain’s medal charge at the Games with a superb third place, just holding out Fraser for the honour.

Merry shattered her personal best with a time of 49.72 seconds while Fraser also produced the race of her life to finish fourth just 0.07sec off a medal.

Freeman, the silver medal-winner in Atlanta four years, ago won in 49.11 while Jamaica’s Lorraine Graham also set a career-best time of 49.58 to snatch the silver.

Freeman, the first Australian Aborigine to win a world title in Athens in 1997, had been expected to take the gold here ever since Australia were awarded the Games seven years ago.

The 27-year-old - who was dressed head to toe in a green, yellow and white bodysuit - shrugged off intolerable pressure to triumph and set off on a victory lap holding both the Australian flag and that of her indigenous people.

Freeman, unbeaten over the lap for the past two years, did not have it all her own way. She was pressured by Graham and Merry but held them off going to the line to win gold at her third attempt. Now she has set her sights on adding the 200m crown later in the week.

But the bronze was also a triumph for Merry who only stepped up to the distance last year and finished fifth at the world championship in Seville, when Freeman successfully defended her title.

Merry, 26 just four days ago, has also been under a huge amount of pressure in Sydney because of the problems with her banned coach Linford Christie.

But unlike fellow Team Linford members, Jamie Baulch and Darren Campbell, the Birchfield Harrier overcame the pressure to claim Britain’s third medal in the Olympic stadium and the 17th medal overall. Merry was also the first Briton to win an Olympic medal in the event since Ann Packer struck gold in Tokyo 36 years ago.

Merry, who had a brilliant junior career as a sprinter, carved over quarter of a second off the personal best she set in Nice earlier this year.

She was almost caught by Fraser, who had spent a month earlier in the year training with Freeman, and who had sliced almost 0.5sec off her best to follow home in fourth.

Merry said: "It was the most awesome thing I’ve ever done. I wanted to get on the rostrum so badly. I heard all the British people here. It’s hard to explain - awesome.

"I can’t believe the atmosphere; you can’t have a better atmosphere than that. I am so honoured to be representing my country, and I have to mention Donna [Fraser] who pushed me all the way to the line.

"Linford said if I run to the best of my ability I would get on to the rostrum and that’s what I have done. I can’t describe the feeling."