Action Photo by Getty Images.

Young sprinting sensation Matthew Glaetzer has the cycling world at his feet. After winning national, world junior and senior titles the 21-year old Aussie, who has been likened to bike legend Sir Chris Hoy, is ready to move to the next level, targeting medals in Glasgow and Rio over the next few years.

WHAT’S HIS STORY?

You could say Glaetzer was born to ride, he just didn’t know it. As a kid growing up in South Australia, Glaetzer tried all manner of sports – soccer, basketball, athletics – but it was the pole vault that originally caught his eye. Injury abruptly stopped his vaulting career and then he tried a triathlon, excelling in the bike leg, so he decided to join a cycling club. The rest, as they say, is history. At 16 Glaetzer won his first event, an Under-17 C Grade road race, was quickly moved up grades and a year later took to the velodrome. Twelve months on he was winning gold and silver in individual events at the World Junior Track Cycling Championships, a year after that, he won silver at the UCI World Cup. In 2012 he took home gold in the team sprint at the World Track Championships and finished fourth in the bronze medal team race at the London Olympics. This year he has already been crowned Australian and Oceania champion. At last month's World Track Championships in Colombia, he made the semi-finals of the sprint, just two days after a massive crash in the keirin; he narrowly missed a medal.

Quick learner, early adapter, natural athlete, accidental cyclist. All these terms apply to Glaetzer, the Adelaide youngster who has speed to burn and has amazed the Australian cycling community with his meteoric rise. Graeme Zucker, vice-president of Glaetzer’s club, Central Districts, has known the rider for five years. Zucker says Glaetzer has pure speed and strength, but it’s his fast progression, particularly his learning of tactics, that’s caught the eye. “He took to track racing like a duck to water,” he says. “You’ve got to work at it and he has been working at it. He’s had some great success in his times. It’s all about taking the opportunity, which he does when it’s thrown to him. In sprint racing it’s all about instinct and reacting quickly; it’s a big learning curve. He’s on the march.” The man himself isn’t satisfied with his early success and has set lofty targets: “My long-term goals are to make it to four Olympics, to win an Olympic medal and to become world champion.”

Headshot Photo by Getty Images.

WHO’S HE LIKE?

Tall and strong, Glaezter is like no other Australian cyclist. He has been compared to Scottish icon Hoy, thanks to his power, and rides alongside some local cycling legends in the Australian team. “I look up to my team-mates Shane Perkins and Anna Meares, as they’re the pinnacle of professionalism and I aim to be that myself,” Glaetzer says. The devout Christian has been described as a fighter and as a role model himself. “He’s a great speaker, kids love him,” Zucker says. “He’s got such an aura. He’s a great ambassador for our sport.”

A strong competitor in both the sprint and keirin events, Glaetzer has yet to focus on just one discipline. After local and international success in both, it’s not hard to see why. The London Games was a learning experience for the then-19-year-old cyclist, but this year’s Commonwealth Games could be his coming out party. “He’s got his own unique style,” Zucker believes. “He’s like a prowling cat, a cheetah. He’s just ready to fire. It’s the way he sits on the bike, like he’s ready to pounce. And when he does, it’s pretty unbelievable to watch. He’s that good.”

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

“He’s an exceptional athlete and had good coaching and good parental guidance.”

− Kevin Tabotta, Cycling Australia national performance director

“There’s no reason he can’t win a gold medal in the sprint or the keirin at Rio. And prior to that, you’ll see him move up the ranks at World Championships and World Cups.”

− Graeme Zucker, Central Districts Cycling Club vice-president