Bree Masters woke up and found a little note by her bedside. It was from her roommate Torrie Lewis, Australia’s fastest woman.
Masters was leaving to race the race that Lewis might also have been in, the Olympic 100m. She was also drawn to be in the same heat as Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning world champion whom Lewis beat earlier this year.
Bree Masters runs at the Stade de France.Credit: Getty Images
“If I am not awake in time I wish you the best of luck, you have worked so hard to get in this individual 100m, now go and beat Sha’Carri,” Lewis wrote.
Masters went off and didn’t quite beat Richardson, but she did do something no Australian woman has done in 24 years and made it through to an Olympic semi-final when she ran third in 11.26 seconds.
Not since Melinda Gainsford-Taylor in 2000 in Sydney has an Australian woman lined up in the Olympic semis.
“It was such a good message to read in the morning – she was still asleep. It made me feel really relaxed,” Masters said.
“I’m speechless. I went in sixth fastest and then came out three, so I’m rapt.”
