Bree Rizzo

BIOGRAPHY

Over the last four years with the rejuvenation of the national relay program, Bree Rizzo (nee Masters) has been the maintain of the team. Run on all three record-breaking relay teams in 2024 and has now run on 10 of our fastest 11 times in history. When running individually on the world stage she has also been at her best, ran a PB in Eugene in 2022 and at the Paris Olympics became the first Aussie to make the 100m semi-final in 24-years.

Bree reflected on her incredible journey over the last few years.

“I’ve been in the sport for five years now, coming from Surf Lifesaving. Yesterday, I felt like I was just a beach sprinter on the sand and now I’m an Olympic semi-finalist.”

During 2024 Australia’s broke the 25-year old Australian 4x100m relay on three occasions. Bree was a fixture on the team running the backstraight.

Bree relay stats:

Run on all three record breaking teams in the last 25 years (all in 2024)

Run on 10 of the top-11 times ever. The one she didn’t run on was in 1999 !

Run on 17 sub-44 seconds relays

Since 2019 Australia has run 25 sub-44 second times. Bree has run on every relay she was eligible except one (2025 London DL)

There was a major life milestone in late 2024 marrying Matt Rizzo and a name change to Bree Rizzo.

Bree’s career has just continued to evolve in 2025, clocking a windy 11.09 in March she was 3rd at the Australian Championships where 0.01 seconds separate the medallists. The next week she won a close Stawell Gift title.

Internationally she claimed a major win in Tokyo in May, then made her Diamond League debut in Rabat.

+  +  + + +

Bree Rizzo started Little Athletics at age six at the Sylvania Waters Athletics Track in Sydney in 2001.

“My parents put me into numerous sports when I was a kid to stay active, however out of all the sports I did, sprinting was one of my favourite.”

Bree also participated in gymnastics, soccer and netball, but the biggest shift came for Bree in 2007, where age 12 she would decide to focus on beach sprinting, in Surf Life Saving an area she was more competitive in. This focus would pay off, as Bree aged 13 became the youngest female to win an Australian beach sprint title. Her accolades include both female Youth Beach Sprint and Flag champion in 2012, Open Female Beach Sporting World Champion 2016 and Open Female Australian Beach Sprint Champion 2019.

But during these years, sport wasn’t actually Bree’s main focus.

“Something not many people know is that I was a full time dancer growing up. I started dancing at age six and fell in love with it. I was selected into a performing arts high school with dreams of becoming a full time company dancer. Growing up my focus was always on dancing. I had little time to train for surf lifesaving and athletics and was always a sport I did on the side.”

After school, for three months Bree went to a full-time dance school in Sydney.

“I didn’t like it whatsoever, I just lost my passion for dancing doing the course. It was a very strange time, I had been so keen on being a full-time dancer in a company, and all of a sudden, I was like ‘no, I want to move to Queensland and follow my running career”.

Aged 17, Bree moved to Queensland.

“The Gold Coast is the hub of Surf Lifesaving, and I moved to train with the sports best athletes. I joined my current coach (Ryan Hoffman) and his team.” For the next six years beach sprinting was her focus. Then in December 2019, aged 24, she was convinced to run on the track. “Coming back into athletics was nerve-racking, however it was also super exciting as it was almost something new to me again. I really enjoyed my first race back and was super surprised with my 100m time (11.63). This race sparked new flames and a new passion, that had me setting new goals as a sprinter.”

From that initial 11.63, within two months, ahead of COVID closing the season, Bree had clocked times of 11.55 (100m) and 23.35 (200m).

Her progression continued in 2021, where despite a February hamstring injury in Canberra she managed to salvage a quick 11.47 time and a National 100m Silver medal in April. In June she would join the national relay team, who clocked an amazing 43.11 achieving the second-fastest time in Australia’s history, but unfortunately missing the Tokyo Olympic selection by 0.06 seconds.

Bree was back on the track in early 2022 with PBs in her very first outing – 11.36 and 23.25. She went on to compile an incredibly consistent summer of times, nailing another PB of 11.33, a national silver medal in 100m and bronze medals in the Oceania 100m and 200m events. Her consistency showed as she never ran slower than 11.50, achieved four sub 11.40 times in 100m, and improved to 23.21 in the 200m. This would earn her selection for Australia at the Commonwealth Games (100m & Relay) and the World Championships (100m).

Two and a half years into her return to athletes Bree Masters was off to Eugene for the world championships. In her Australian debut, Bree was brilliant, recording a PB of 11.29, the fastest time by an Aussie at a Global (Worlds/Olympics) meet for 15 years. She was ranked 30th overall in the heats with just 24 progressing to the semis.

Two weeks later at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she made the 100m semi-final and ran second leg on the 4x100m relay team which placed a close fourth to Jamacia in the final, clocking 43.16 – Australia’s fourth fastest ever time. But on 14 July 2023, it was announced that the winners, Nigeria, would be stripped of their medal due to a doping violation. Australia were awarded the bronze medal – our first medal in the event for 16 years.

Bree compiled another excellent 2023 domestic campaign, silver in the National 100m, consistently under 11.50 and clocking a PB of 11.23 in the rain in Auckland – now #8 Australian all-time.

On June 21, Bree announced she has suffered a hamstring strain and opted to delay her travel to Europe.

“I believe everything happens for a reason, and I’m looking forward to boarding my flight in a few weeks and getting back out on the track to race again soon,” she wrote. “Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about the destination.”

Astonishingly one month later she opened her European campaign in Belgium with a 11.25 run – the second fastest time of her career. At the Budapest world championships unfortunately the relay team dropped the baton, but they made up for it when in March 2024 they broke the 25-year-old Australian record clocking 42.94 in Sydney. Two months later at the World Relays, they again broke the record with a time of 42.83, but more important secured a place at the Paris Olympic for the Australian relay team.

Over her six years at the top of Australian sprinting Bree Masters has always delivered whether it be in the 100m or on the relay team, but at the Olympic trials and National 100m championship in April 2024, she placed an uncharacteristic fifth. Her relay team position was safe, but the dream of an individual 100m run looked uncertain. But two important race results in Tokyo and at the Oceania Championships would be sufficient to book her 100m place in Paris. Performing when it counted on her Olympic debut in Paris, she delivered a seasonal best time of 11.26 as she placed third to book a place in the semi-finals where she would place seventh. She made history as the first Australian women to make the Olympic 100m semis since Melinda Gainsford-Taylor in 2000.

She then joined the National relay team. Bree had run on the relay team that broke the Australian record two weeks prior to the Olympics when they clocked 43.48 seconds. In Paris the team placed 4th in their heat in a time of 42.75 (second fastest in Australian history), missing the final by just 0.11 seconds.

Education: Graduated in 2022 Bachelor of Communications (Business) degree, majoring in marketing and public relations Bond University…Occupation: part time public relations with LSKD…Advice to your young self: “Dream big, push through and overcome every obstacle no matter how hard it may be and to train hard. Life is forever changing its path and I would tell my younger self to just go with it and follow what you love… Best sporting moment: Winning the open female world beach sprint title in 2016 & the open female Australian beach sprint title (2019)…Biggest challenge: Coming back from an illness in 2012. When I was 16, I had severe appendicitis, which rocked me as an athlete. I was hospitalised for over a week…Enjoyment of competing: I love the thrill, adrenaline and excitement it brings me. I love running fast, striving for new personal best times, and seeing new personal best times on the clock. I also love racing with my friends and teammates as I love creating memories and achieving incredible things with them. Being out on the track is my happy place and it is where I feel like I belong…What athletics means to Bree: On 7 June 2023 she wrote: “Running has become a huge part of my life and has taken it to places I never thought it could be I cannot fit into one caption all that running has taught me, but it has absolutely pushed my limits and taught me a lot about discipline, sacrifice, patience, and consistency! It has taken me around the world, connected me with the most amazing people, and has allowed me to achieve so many things I didn’t think my body was capable of. I am so grateful to be able to do this thing that I love so much.”

@ 27 August 2025 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au