OLYMPIC HERO MAHE DR YSDALE'OUR LIVES ARE PURE CHAOS!

The two-time gold medallist reveals how running for Mayor of Tauranga has tipped his household upside down

- Kelly Bertrand

Since retiring from rowing in 2021, life for Olympic hero Mahé Drysdale has been cruising along nicely. Gruelling early morning training is a thing of the past and he's enjoying working a nine-to-five job as a financial analyst at Forsyth Barr, a role that requires no international travel.

All three of his children are thriving, and he and his wife, fellow Olympic rower Juliette, are finally getting full nights of sleep now their youngest is a little older. It feels like luxury, the former athlete says.

So in true Mahé fashion, it's time to shake things up-and what spells madness quite like a mayoral campaign?

With a cheeky grin on his face, the 45-year-old tells Woman's Day, "Exactly! We thought, 'Let's tip our lives upside down, put it into complete chaos and see if I can be elected Mayor of Tauranga!"

Laughing as she and Mahé settle in for a chat, Juliette, 41, adds, "Oh, and we just got a puppy too for good measure, so it really is pure chaos!"

While he's one of New Zealand's greatest Olympians, with two gold medals to his name, Mahé's political aspirations might come as a surprise to some Kiwis. In fact, they even came as a surprise to his wife.

"It took him 10 days to convince me he was serious," says Juliette, who won a bronze medal rowing in the women's pairs at the 2012 London Games. "It came so out of the blue for me and it took me a while to understand just how serious he is about this opportunity. But now all I see is how excited and passionate he is about it."

While the mayoral race might be a little different to a rowing regatta, the fundamentals are the same, says Mahé -dedication, passion, hard work and commonsense. But he totally understands why people might struggle to understand why he'd put himself forward for such a demanding public role.