Olympic medal-winning cyclist retires to become a full-time fireman

Matthew Glaetzer (Bronze) and Matthew Richardson (Silver) of Team Australia celebrate after the Men's Keirin at the Paris Olympics — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Having represented Australia on the world stage at four Olympics and three Commonwealth Games, winning multiple medals along the way, track rider Matthew Glaetzer has made public his decision to retire from cycling to join the fire service in his home state of South Australia.

Now 33, Glaetzer enjoyed a glittering career at the top of the sport with the Australian Cycling Team, and has stood on the podium at the Summer Olympics twice, winning two bronze medals at the Paris Games in 2024, for the team sprint and the keirin.

His Olympic odyssey began at the London Games in 2012, when Glaetzer was part of the Australian team sprint selection that finished fourth in the bronze medal final, losing out to Germany. Further frustration followed in Rio in 2016, when he came away with two fourth place finishes, in the team sprint and sprint, and again at Tokyo 2020, where Australia finished fourth in the team sprint and Glaetzer placed fifth in the keirin.

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After repeatedly coming so close to the Olympic podium only to narrowly miss out, Glaetzer, described earning his first bronze medal in Paris as being “like a gold to me”.

Matthew Glaetzer of Team Australia and Rayan Helal of Team France fight for the position during the Men's Keirin at the Paris Olympics

After exhibiting prodigious talent as a junior, Glaetzer joined the senior Australian Cycling Team at the age of 18 in 2011, at the UCI Track World Championships, where he earned a bronze. He would go on to win multiple more medals at the World Champs, including three golds and four silvers, and he has five gold and two bronze Commonwealth Game medals on his mantlepiece too.

And all this despite a shock thyroid cancer diagnosis in 2019. Glaetzer returned to racing just a month after undergoing surgery for the condition, incredibly getting on the podium at the UCI Track World Cups in Cambridge and Brisbane, and winning selection for the Australian team for Tokyo 2020.

Now, though, he has decided to head in a completely new direction. “After more than a decade on the world stage, it’s time to close this chapter,” Glaetzer announced on Instagram on Wednesday.

"As many would know, I have been working towards a new career as a firefighter and this year I have been fortunate to commence full-time employment in that role,” he told media. “With this transition, I’m formally announcing that I am retiring from the sport to which I have dedicated the past 15 years of my life.”

Having recently clipped in as News & Features Writer for Cycling Weekly, Pat has spent decades in the saddle of road, gravel and mountain bikes pursuing interesting stories. En route he has ridden across Australia's Great Dividing Range, pedalled the Pirinexus route around the Catalan Pyrenees, raced through the Norwegian mountains with 17,000 other competitors during the Birkebeinerrittet, fatbiked along the coast of Wales, explored the trails of the Canadian Yukon under the midnight sun and spent umpteen happy hours bikepacking and cycle-touring the lost lanes and hidden bridleways of the Peak District, Exmoor, Dartmoor, North Yorkshire and Scotland. He worked for Lonely Planet for 15 years as a writer and editor, contributed to Epic Rides of the World and has authored several books.