SUPERMAN... MEET THE MAN OF STEELE
MOVIE WORLD is famous for its superheroes ... but they haven’t had one like Steele von Hoff before. The road cyclist, who won Commonwealth Games gold just seven weeks after breaking bones in his back and neck in a crash in Melbourne, was mobbed by fans at the theme park yesterday, forcing Superman to take a back seat.
USUALLY superheroes are the stars of the show at Movie World.
But yesterday, all eyes were on road cyclist Steele von Hoff, who was the real man of steel when winning his gold medal just seven weeks after breaking six bones in his neck and back during a race in Melbourne.
Crowds were lining up to have their picture taken with the 30-year-old after he phenomenally won the Commonwealth Games 160km cycling road race on Saturday.
“This is crazy, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” von Hoff said as strangers jostled for his attention.
Despite his impressive feat of strength, von Hoff said he couldn’t measure up to superman.
“It’s just a joke, I can’t be compared to Superman, he’s the real man of steel,” von Hoff said.
But he said he felt pretty good.
“It is an amazing feeling to be wearing this medal, I never dreamt this would happen after my run-in from seven weeks ago,” he said. “The amount of people who were yelling out for the Aussies during the race and even the friends who came up and watched, to pull on the green and gold jersey at a home event – it was all unreal.”
Von Hoff said he knew he only had one shot when he started his sprint to the finish line.
“I’m not in much pain any more, unless I do something erratic, so in the race I only had one shot at the sprint ... you just hold your breath and you do it,” he said.
“You just don’t think about it, you just get it done, it was the furthest I'd ridden since my accident by 40km.”
After managing the “fundamentals” of his recovery – like going to the bathroom and being able to get out of bed – von Hoff said getting to the Commonwealth Games was a make-or-break event for his career.
“Things were looking pretty grim back then, I don’t remember much because I was concussed,” he said.
Von Hoff said that if he hadn’t spoken to his coach Mark Fenner and decided to take part in the Commonwealth Games it would have been the end of his career.
“If I didn’t do it, that would have been it for my career because everyone knew I'd broken my back,” he said.
“... After breaking my back there were a few people who somewhat wrote me off (but) to come back and win the Commonwealth Games shows I’m fine with my injuries and it’s only onwards and upwards from here.”