I met one of Australia's greatest ever women, and she was awesome.

I met one of my heroes on Thursday, and she was everything I hoped she would be. 

My mum did me in with the testimonial she provided for my ‘About’ page. 

She said I need to stop photoshopping my head on to photos with Sydney Sweeney. 

Truth is, I’ve only photoshopped my head on to photos with Sydney once, but what she was inferring was I need to stop photoshopping my head on to photos with any celebrity. 

I’ve only done it like three times, with Sydney, Gal Gadot and Grace Kelly, but I get that that’s enough to make me look like some total crazy fanboy.

Another thing I occasionally do that makes me sound like a cray-cray fanboy, is approach people whose work or influence on the world I respect and admire.

I’m not saying I’m a paparazzo without a camera, or that I even put them on a pedestal; on the contrary; I don’t treat them any different to anyone else, because they are no different; they’re just people whose achievements have gained national or international recognition. 

Last year I said ‘hello’ to Eric Bana at the dog park. I told him I’ve seen most of his films and that I think he’s one of the best actors in the world. He was a champion about it.

The year before that I said ‘hello’ to Lleyton Hewitt at a baggage carousel at the airport and told him how his five-set Davis Cup win over Roger Federer in 2003 was one of the grittiest sporting achievements I’d seen. He had two kids hanging off him, but still gave me the time of day.

The year before that I said ‘hello’ to the late Dame Olivia Newton-John, admired her singing voice, her bravery, and the legacy she’d created with cancer research and care. And she responded with that trademark kindness.

I did it again this week - I approached a woman whose achievements I highly admire.

Walking down a suburban street in Melbourne, I spotted a gold medal winner from the Sydney Olympics sitting inside a cafe having coffee with a friend. I went into the cafe and said thanks to her for producing one of my most favourite sporting memories ever. 

The sporting memory? The women’s 400m sprint. The name of this gold medal winner? Cathy Freeman. 

I watched three nights of the athletics from the stands of the then Stadium Australia, but wasn’t there the night Cathy won her Gold. Cathy competed on the Monday the 25th of September; I was there on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

I did athletics when I was in primary and secondary school, and there was always one event I wanted to win more than any other - the 400m. In primary school, only the Grade 6’s were allowed to do the 400m. When I was in Grade 4 they made an exception, and I came fourth. They made an exception again when I was in Grade 5, and I came third. When I was in Grade six I won it, and then won it again at the inter-schools. I missed out in Year 7 with illness, won Year 8 and Year 9, and then was struck down by injury. 

As I trained for the 400m on a local level over those years, so too on an international level did Cathy. If winning was the motivation, then Cathy was the inspiration. 

I followed her progress from her gold medal win at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, right through to the Sydney Olympics, and even though I watched her Sydney triumph on TV, I was on a high for days’ after, as was the whole Olympic precinct, and the whole country really. 

I’ve watched the replay no less than a 100 times in the nearly 24 years since. 

So walking past this cafe, I was never going to let the opportunity to say ‘thanks’ to Cathy pass me by. And I’m glad I did, because she’s as nice in person as she was a star on the track. 

Our exchange only last 60 seconds tops, but she was just ace!

So while mum may have a point about the photoshopping, and I’ll probably never do it again, Cathy’s given me every reason to keep saying ‘hello’ and ’thanks’ to any remarkable Australians I catch a glimpse of in the future.

All the best Cathy if you’re reading haha. And thanks for being a gold medallist in every kind of way.