This time last year, Bree Rizzo felt her maiden Olympic Games slipping away after waking suddenly and feeling “sick as a dog”.
A beacon of health for almost a year, the Queensland sprinter felt at peace heading into the finals of the Australian Athletics Championships. Her Paris bid was taking shape – until it wasn’t.
“I don’t know if it was COVID or a really bad flu, I just felt absolutely horrible,” Rizzo (née Masters) says.
Bree Masters in action at the Paris Olympics.Credit: Getty Images
“There wasn’t one moment where I was going to pull out, I just thought I can do this whether I’m sick or not. I knew qualification was dependent on that.
“I needed to come top three and I came fifth. I felt so depleted, I felt like I was in a dream where you’re trying to run away from someone but you literally can’t run.
“I had nothing left in me, and I just sat on the sidelines and tried to hold back my tears. That’s when I thought to myself it’s over.”
After that setback cost her key qualification points and a place on the Oceania team, Rizzo embarked on an arduous journey to reach the Games.
She laughs at “how psychotic I got” by going “full Excel nerd” – devising a spreadsheet tracking her competitors’ rankings.
Following races in Japan, Fiji and the Bahamas, among other nations, she opted to take a risk. She waited, staying at home to train while others around the world competed.
The result: becoming the first Australian woman in 24 years to make the Olympics’ 100-metre semi-finals.
“It was the most stressful period ever. That result in Paris made it so much more rewarding because the journey I had to go through to get there was so hard and mentally frustrating, but I wouldn’t change it.”
Bree Rizzo
Rizzo is now determined to reach the Los Angeles 2028 Games, her crusade again taking her to the national championships, beginning on April 10.
While she has already won the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne and the Sir Graeme Douglas International (with a personal best time of 11.23) in Auckland this year, funding her exploits is a struggle.
Limited funding for athletes means they often pay their own way to international competitions while balancing full-time work around their training.
Medical demands are also a factor, with the Australian Sports Foundation reporting that 46 per cent of elite athletes over 18 earn less than $23,000 annually.
Rizzo’s work in marketing helped offset those costs as she used her skills to enhance her social media presence and generate sponsors.
She boasts an Instagram following of 278,000 and believes media training must factor into planning for Brisbane 2032.
“It’s brought in a lot of income and opportunities. I find myself doing a lot of corporate talks or panels, and I take advantage of those things,” Rizzo says.
“There was a time when I was really scared to do those things, but I feel like the more I have put myself out there and just gone and done it, the more I’ve grown.
“Being consistent, showing the insights of what I do – the pretty and not so pretty – and being super transparent has really helped.
“It’s so beneficial for athletes to build their personal brand and help them fund themselves. It’s all hyped in Olympic year, everyone knows who you are, but trying to continue that is always extremely hard.”
According to sports marketing expert Rick Burton, an online presence will determine who becomes competitive in the build-up to Brisbane 2032.
The International Olympic Committee’s chief marketing officer for the Beijing Games says to fund their training, athletes need to master the digital space and adapt as popular platforms change.
“Growing up, we might have looked up to athletes, but we didn’t think of them as media centres. Now LeBron James takes a shower, and we’re interested,” Burton says.
“The fan keeps telling us they want to get closer to the action. As athletes become more familiar with how to tell their story – their training, what they’re eating, sleeping advice – the best will have worldwide audiences.”
Rizzo’s ambitions off the track have also presented a daunting juggling act.
The 30-year-old married long-time partner Matthew Rizzo in November and the couple intend to begin a family in coming years.
But Rizzo is adamant that after doing so, she will make a triumphant return.
“I’ve seen all these incredible females in Australia going away and having a family. I’m intrigued to see what these superpowers are that women are claiming,” she says.
“You see Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – I can’t compare myself to that kind of calibre – but she’s come back even faster after having a child, as have so many other women.
“I’ve still got that drive, and going away to Paris and achieving what I did really just lit the flame even more.”
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