Over the past three years, Crew GB observe bicycle owner Mark Stewart has most likely taken on extra professions than another rider contained in the Paris Olympics velodrome.
He has labored as a canine walker, a babysitter, a lifeguard, and now, after a last-minute call-up for Saturday’s Madison occasion, he has one other function so as to add to his CV: Olympian.
The 28-year-old was by no means anticipating to race his bike in Paris. He travelled to the Olympics as a reserve within the observe squad, able to be known as upon if catastrophe struck. That second got here when Ethan Hayter pulled out of the Madison with a muscle pressure, suffered when he fell out of his saddle in Wednesday’s staff pursuit remaining.
“I came upon this morning,” Stewart mentioned. “I anticipated it. I assumed, ‘Proper, there’s an opportunity I am going to get the decision up right here.’ So I used to be prepared. I took the function significantly.
“[Racing] is a horrendous mixture of the worst nerves you’ve got ever had, and confidence, as a result of we’re high-performance athletes, and we have got this wonderful help from British Biking. You do go up there assured, however on the identical time, you’ve got acquired this contrasting factor of being essentially the most nervous you’ve got ever been in your life.”
Paired along with his teammate and buddy Ollie Wooden, Stewart completed twelfth within the race, a outcome that left him “gutted”. Nonetheless, the Olympics are solely the third championship occasion the Scot has carried out with the nationwide squad since he was dropped by British Biking in 2020, shortly after the Covid pandemic was declared.
“When British Biking kicked me off and dropped me from the programme, it was really stunning circumstances, though I didn’t comprehend it on the time,” he mentioned. “I simply acquired out to New Zealand to go to my fiancée, Emma [Cumming], Covid occurred, New Zealand locked down their borders, and I ended up staying for 2 years.
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“British Biking supported me financially after they kicked me off due to the instances, Covid, so I used to be in a position to practice for the primary yr full-time. For the second yr I used to be there, the cash ran out. So I wanted to get jobs.”
(Picture credit score: Alex Whitehead/SWpix)
Within the months that adopted, Stewart mixed his coaching with as much as 50-hour working weeks, from time to time waking up at 3am to trip his bike.
“I began off babysitting and canine strolling for a detailed household that I do know, and I cherished that, and I discovered plenty of function in that,” he mentioned. “I cherished working for Taku Wairua, a self growth programme, the place we went into low socio-economic faculties, and I taught youngsters over 10 weeks about their values and who they’re as people.
“I used to be additionally a lifeguard staff chief, and I had 5 – 6 younger lifeguards I used to be taking care of, and I needed to indicate them that I may get my coaching carried out earlier than work began at 5:30am. I believe they thought I used to be fortunate being an athlete, however I needed to indicate them it was a aware determination, and in order for you one thing, you can also make it occur.”
Stewart re-entered the British Biking fray early final yr, when he raced at a Nations Cup meet in Canada, his first occasion for GB in over three years. He then went on to compete on the World Championships in Glasgow, driving with Wooden within the Madison, and incomes the silver medal.
Not anticipating a call-up for the Olympics, Stewart mentioned he was “over the moon” to be requested to be the reserve within the males’s endurance squad.
“It is super-special, to be trustworthy,” he mentioned. “I joined the British Biking programme in 2014, and spent 5 years making an attempt to go to Tokyo. The alternative occurred. They kicked me off. So even simply to work my means again into the squad and compete on the Worlds in Glasgow final yr was phenomenal. After which to get known as as much as be a reserve, to play a help function for my shut associates, my teammates, was wonderful.”
Now, he mentioned, his focus is already on the following Olympics, scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028.
Does Stewart hope to be there? “Completely,” he mentioned. “The attractive factor about Madison is all of the ages, shapes, everybody’s on the market. I spoke to Roger Kluge, and I believe he is knocking on the door of 40 [years old], and I mentioned, ‘Are you going to retire this yr?’ and he mentioned, ‘No! I’m going to go for a pair extra years.’ If he can go a pair extra years, so can I.”
