Up Close … with Hedson Mathieu, one of Seychelles’ top cyclists |14 January 2014

‘Discipline is everything’

By Sedrick Nicette

When an athlete leaves a mark on a community or in our case a country, there is always a special interest that surrounds that person, even after they have left the sports scene. One such athlete is someone that can be described as one of Seychelles’ best cyclists over the years and one who has contributed so much in terms of results for the sport.

Hedson Mathieu is a name familiar with the majority of locals, whether or not they follow sports. Such is the impact he has made on the sport for his country. Since leaving the sport though, many have been asking, where is Hedson now? While our younger readers may be asking who Hedson is, I decided to catch up with Hedson to find out.

Childhood and education

Born in a family of nine children, with five brothers and three sisters, Hedson is the youngest of them. Probably something many did not know, including myself, among Hedson’s brothers is former Seychelles’ top boxer who is now a coach, Jerry Legras. Surprised? So, was I…

“I have loved bicycles since I was very young and started riding since around the age of 12. My father comes from La Digue, so I guess riding bicycles runs in my blood,” said Hedson.

Hedson went to crèche at Les Mamelles and continued at the Les Mamelles school until primary four, then moved to Plaisance to continue his primary education.  He then completed his secondary studies at Plaisance secondary up until S4 and then went to the National Youth Service (NYS), where he was part of the last group of student who went there before it was closed down, with the introduction of S5 to secondary schools.

“I then attended post-secondary at the Polytechnic, where I studied motor vehicle engineering before I went to France for my scholarship and later to Switzerland,” added the Brilliant resident.

Hedson pointed out that some people see him as a very serious person and are hesitant to approach him, but he said; “I am a very friendly person, who talks to everyone. It does not matter who you are.”

Cycling

There are many sporting disciplines and so often young children tend to go towards the more popular sports such as football, basketball or even athletics. But, what pulled Hedson towards cycling?
“Cycling is a very demanding sport, since you are alone on your bike with everything up to you. Being on a bike alone puts you close to nature and that is something I appreciate,”  said Hedson who won the Indian Ocean Island Games’ individual time trial gold medal twice in Mauritius (2003) and Madagascar (2007).

“I had to sacrifice a lot in order to be a good cyclist, as I could not go out as often as others and really had to focus on positive things.”

 “Through cycling I have been able to travel the world and meet people of different nationalities and made many friends. The experiences I gained through these travels have really helped me to be what I am in the sport,” he said.

Those who follow the annual sports awards will remember that Hedson Mathieu won the young male athlete of the year for four consecutive years -- from 1996 to 1999, but never managed to go higher than the runner-up spot for the seniors, finishing in second place four times.

“Four times as runner-up I think is a good achievement for an athlete, although it is a bit of a disappointment to have never gone higher than that.”

Hedson spent two years in France, defending the colours of CAC 41 and spent two more years in Switzerland as a cyclist.

Hearing Hedson speak so passionately about the sport, it was inevitable that the question why did he quit the sport pop up.

“I still do love the sport, but at this stage in my life where I have a family, I decided that I need to spend time with them,” he said.

“I did not get to see my son growing up as I spent most of my time abroad involved with cycling. When my daughter was born I made the decision to stop and be more present in my family.”

When asked about the possibility of him making a comeback to the sport, Hedson replied; “Well, that is a big question… all my cycling gear are still here and many people have been asking me to return to the sport.” A bit of good news followed then, as he added; “I think this year I will be riding again though.”

Hedson explained that he has not been following cycling much nowadays, but he has noticed a lot of young cyclists, which is a good thing for the sport.
 
“They need to keep going and get a lot of support, as cycling is not an easy sport,” he noted.

Motivation

To achieve success, a lot of motivation and support is needed and for Hedson it was no different.

“My family really helped me a lot. As I said before, it is not an easy sport, since you have to dedicate a lot of time and energy to it,” he said.

Surely, a lot of support is needed to have achieved what Hedson did and as he pointed out, to come from a hard day’s work only to find yourself needing to go out for training is never easy.

“There are a lot of top riders who I admired and thankfully I had the pleasure of competing alongside them a couple of times,” Hedson pointed out. Indeed, Hedson was a team mate of 2013 Tour de France winner Chris Froome during his time in Switzerland. He mentioned that Froome also competed in the Tour de Maurice where he finished ahead of him in second place in one of the races.


Other interests

Surely, Hedson is not all about cycling, so I decided to find out more about his other interests.

“Well, I have always loved the sea. As a child I always enjoyed going to the beach, swimming and also fishing, which I still enjoy,” he said.

Hedson owns a boat, which he often uses to go fishing with his family and also takes part in fishing tournaments that are organised locally.

“I have a wife and two children, and I enjoy spending time with them. My son enjoys spending time with me as well and shares some of my interests. He also has his own bike which he has a big interest in,” he said about his family.

Hedson currently works at the State Assurance Corporation of Seychelles (SACOS) as an assessor.

“I provide assessments and evaluations of vehicles. It can be for damaged vehicles or to settle arguments, etc,” he said about his job, which shows his studies are being well used.

Advice

Hedson has the following piece of advice to any person, especially the youth:

“It’s all about discipline. Wherever you will go you will need to be disciplined to succeed.”

To the young up and coming cyclists, Hedson had this to say: “Keep being positive, as sometimes in cycling there is a lot of obstacles. In fact, obstacles are everywhere, but you have to keep going and be motivated in order to succeed.”