Matthew Glaetzer, the cycling champion and cancer survivor known for his perseverance in the face of sporting heartbreak, has a thing for ducks.<\/p>\n
He and his wife, Nikki, often enjoy a \u201ctherapeutic\u201d stroll along the river near their home. Spectacular rosellas and rainbow lorikeets flit through the branches of the gums above, while Pacific black and wood ducks lumber down in the long grass.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get out after a long day at work, enjoy a nice stroll, see if we can find some ducks,\u201d Glaetzer.<\/p>\n
Sometimes they recognise particular ducks, he says, and sometimes the ducks recognise them.<\/p>\n
For the past 15 years, 33-year-old Glaetzer has been overcoming hurdles while gathering podium honours with the Australian cycling team. Tense fans watched on as he repeatedly missed out on an Olympic medal, coming fourth again and again. Then celebrated when, after all that torment, he won bronze not once but twice in Paris \u2013 the games he already suspected would be his last.<\/p>\n
At the end of last month, Glaetzer announced his retirement from the sport, keen to set off on his next adventure as a firefighter. The South Australian Sports Institute described him at the time as a \u201csymbol of perseverance, adaptability and quiet determination\u201d, while he said he was proud of his achievements. His final career haul comprises four Olympic Games (two bronze medals), three Commonwealth Games (five gold and two bronze) and nine UCI track world championships (three gold, four silver and two bronze).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf, along the way, I have had any positive impact on you, then I consider my time in the sport a true success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He knew in Paris that he was just about done. Thirty-three is a ripe old age for a professional cyclist and the team was moving to Brisbane, another sign it was time to leave. Now, asked what he misses, he chooses to focus on what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n
Matthew Glaetzer credits his faith community with getting him through tough times. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
The smoothly coiffed, clear-eyed Glaetzer lives in Paradise in Adelaide\u2019s north-eastern suburbs. It\u2019s known for its sprawling megachurch, Futures, although it was named for a pub rather than any biblical reference.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a Pentecostal church, full of music and light shows and family friendly events, set on an enormous campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the church I grew up in,\u201d Glaetzer says. \u201cIt guides how I go about things and, you know, how I interact with the people that I meet \u2026 that\u2019s been instrumental in getting me through my tough times as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing that I\u2019m never alone in that was a big part of me being able to get through my thyroid cancer, to be strong through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He speaks earnestly about his church, while navigating the occasional passing council vehicle or cyclist, then we move on to egos in professional sports.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re there, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201c[But] my friends and family kept me pretty grounded. They didn\u2019t treat me any different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very conscious of the fact that I didn\u2019t want the sport that I did or the environment that I was in to influence the person that I already was. So I kept that pretty consistent all the way through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glaetzer grew up near here and now lives in a newly built home with neat topiary out the front. With ducks on the green grass it is the picture of a perfect suburban existence. His parents live five minutes away, and he seems almost unbearably wholesome.<\/p>\n
Glaetzer looks for birds during a \u2018therapeutic\u2019 stroll near his home. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re happy here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re walking a section of the Linear Path, a 30km trail from the hills to the sea that meanders alongside the Torrens River, and where Glaetzer rode as a kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember learning to ride,\u201d he says. \u201cI got the hang of it pretty quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I had my training wheels on for very long \u2026 I wanted to get rid of those things. I used to ride along here quite a bit on my BMX, and have some fun with a few little dirt jumps I made along there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first bike he took to a race was a Malvern Star, lent to him by an uncle. \u201cIt was an old clunker with an old steel frame \u2026 I ran that thing into the ground,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Years later he would whip around the velodrome at 80km\/h on a carbon-fibre bike, with nothing but Lycra between him and the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cChasing a motorbike we can edge that up a bit more, closer to the 85km\/h in the draft of the motorbike. So that\u2019s pretty fun \u2013 that\u2019s pulling two g-forces on the corner and it\u2019s pretty wild.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fastest I\u2019ve been on the road is 102km\/h.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just saw the road just disappear in the horizon. I was like: \u2018Oh, here we go.\u2019 I just lit up a big sprint at the top and then went for it down this hill. And I ended up going pretty quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
I suggest that might be a little deadly, a little nuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest after 80km\/h it kind of all feels the same,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He has taken a chunk out from under his eye after T-boning a crashed rider and \u201cSupermanning\u201d on to the track. He\u2019s had a 6cm splinter in his hip, and burned up the whole side of his body in a fall.<\/p>\n
double quotation markIt was like a big fat rubber band letting go within my legMatthew Glaetzer<\/p>\n
But he never broke a bone; elite cyclists\u2019 training leaves them with an extra-dense skeleton.<\/p>\n