Whether it’s out of irony, admiration of wanton boldness or just sheer disbelief, the mullet has long captured Kiwi imaginations.
Yet since the 1980s, few have been spotted on our athletes at the highest levels. Kiwi cyclist Shane Archbold has bucked the trend in 2012, competing at the London Olympics with a hairstyle that has earned him the nickname ‘the Flying Mullet.’ Archbold even made it to last year’s Tour de France.
Videos by VICE
He may soon have company in the New Zealand Olympic Mullet Hall of Fame, however. Palmerston North speed skater Peter Michael—himself a ‘business on the sides, party at the back’ bloke—is on track to make the next Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
The 28-year-old is a lifelong inline skater with world champion credentials, but made a switch to ice two years ago. Despite initial struggles with the new discipline, Michael is seeing his stock rise incredibly quickly.
Michael, who was born in Wellington but considers himself a total Palmy bloke at heart, picked up a bronze in the 5km event at this year’s World Championships in South Korea, while notching a silver in the New Zealand men’s team pursuit. In the 5km, Michael’s time was only bested by two former Winter Olympic champions.
Given his obvious skill level, scoring enough qualification points in upcoming World Cup events to make it to the Winter Games should be a formality. That said; like any athlete outside the major Kiwi sports, life’s always not easy for Michael, who lives and trains in Geisingen, Germany.
VICE NZ caught up with Michael to talk speed skating, the Winter Olympics and that epic mullet of his.
VICE: Kia ora, Peter. How did you get started as a speed skater?
Peter Michael: My Mum will hate me saying this but I wanted to play inline hockey. I went to a ‘learn to inline hockey’ class, which normally runs an hour. I was a good 30 minutes in and hadn’t even seen a stick. I went up to the only person running it and said “hey man, do we get a stick at all—what’s the go?” He was like “ah, it’s speed skating.” I skated off to my mum and said, “This is the wrong class.” She said “you’ve had fun for this long, why not finish?” I carried on the session. It was a weekly thing, and ended up going back the next week.
It wasn’t too long after that I started competing. It’s funny looking back on that because the person I went and asked about the hockey stick was actually Kalon Dobbin—my future coach. We went from club mates to New Zealand team mates to European team mates, and now he’s my coach.
How big of a transition is it from inline skating, to speed skating on the ice?
Hah, I haven’t told this to too many people, to be honest. When I first tried [in 2015], I went onto the summer ice for just a week. The first day, I stepped on the ice and did one lap. I reckon it would have taken me four minutes just for that one lap. I couldn’t stand up, it was very difficult. The next day, I managed five laps. I developed quickly after that, but, in saying that, I just went hard. I didn’t worry about technique, which was probably a bad thing looking back on it. This was two years ago. The first year, I wasn’t with Kalon. The second year, I moved ahead leaps and bounds, with Kalon, with my technique. I grew a lot with that. That made the transition from inline to ice so much easier.
A lot of people think, from the sidelines, that [inline and ice speed skating] are really similar, but they’re honestly not. To do four minutes that first lap—I was coming off one of my best years in inline.
To go from a four-minute lap the first time you skated on ice to a podium finish at the World Champs in two years is wild. How do you explain that rise?
The first time I went to Worlds, I managed to squeeze out a 12th in the 5K. I was like, okay, cool. Then I link up with Kalon and started thinking about next year. We were like, let’s go hard and do what we need to do, because the big goal is the Olympics.
I managed sixth place in the 5K next time around and I told him “next year, I’m going to medal”. He was like, “cool, that makes my job easier”. I thought if I kept improving at the rate, I should be winning. But going from 12th to sixth is easier than going from sixth to first. I went back and got the bronze in the 5K and silver in the TP [team pursuit]. So, yeah, some pretty big steps.
How big is the Winter Olympics next year as a goal for you?
Obviously, we’re aiming for a medal at the Games. Especially with the TP. We got that second with just a smidge off first. So, we’re definitely looking at that as a team; that’s definitely a goal. I developed a lot this year in my 1500m. I got a podium at a World Cup event. At the Worlds, it wasn’t quite as good but the ice conditions were a lot different there. It worked well for my long distance, of course. There’s the 1500m, 5km and TP and I’ll be giving it everything in them all, but so far, my favourite is the 5km so I’ll be going hard at that.
What is life like as an inline skater turned ice speed skater? Is it hard to make ends meet?
I’m not complaining, because I really do love the life of travelling and racing, especially in two sports. Sometimes it’s a bit hard on cash, but, at the end of the day, I’m doing something I love. I wouldn’t have complained if I’d chosen a wealthier sport I suppose, but hey, that’s life.
Hopefully I can make New Zealand really proud at the Olympics, which was my goal since I was tiny. That always helps drive the fire inside the belly. Some of the other stuff you miss, because training is in the way. We spend a lot of time on skates. Most days are two-day sessions. The dream of representing New Zealand at the Olympics is coming true. Now it’s just a matter of how proud I can make New Zealand of me, based on results.
Finally, tell us about that mullet mate.
I guess I had a little rat’s tail when I was younger, and grew it out. I then cut it off and lost my mojo; got it back and now I’m flying. Formal in the front, and party in the back.
Follow Ben on Twitter.
