'I have four burritos a day': Boddington eyes Paralympic Games three-peat

Days after breaking a world record and winning gold at the Paris Paralympic Games Korey Boddington went back to work.

Not in the velodrome, but the office in Brisbane where the 29-year-old runs his own accountancy firm.

“We got back in Australia on the Friday, and I was back at work on Monday. All these people are having holidays in Europe going, ‘Oh, it’s so good’ and I go, ‘Yeah, I was back work on Monday’,” he laughs.

“I just needed to get back to work, I was missing it! The guys from work had come over to watch me and they were still on holiday and I was back at work. I’m a bit sick in the mind, I think.”

Boddington did, however, take some Paris mementos into the office following his triumphant Paralympic debut that included gold in the men’s C4 1000m time trial and bronze in the men’s mixed team sprint C1-5 – some 18 months after being introduced to cycling.

“Oh yeah, I walked in with a medal around my neck. I was King Kong,” he quips.

Boddington is reliving his debut as the cinematic trailer for Changing Track is released. He is one of several ARA Australian Cycling Team athletes that the documentary - led by ARA Group CEO turned executive producer Edward Federman, director Tristan Kenyon, and producer Timothy Kenyon - follows in the build-up to and throughout the 2024 Paralympics.

“Changing Track is not about politics, controversy or technical sport details and results, it is a non-fiction drama film,” says Tristan Kenyon.  

“Many of us experience periods of depression, anxiety or darkness. Some of us will or have suffered an unexpected event that has significantly changed our life. Some of us might simply be stuck in a rut, or feeling lost, or directionless. Emily [Petricola], Korey and Kane [Perris] show us that anyone has the power to change track, find the right people, and focus on what they love no matter what that may be, or what life has yet to throw their way.”

Among the many deeply moving and entertaining insights in the film is Boddington’s love of burritos, which he hopes, at the beginning of a new, four-year Paralympic Games cycle will help power him not just to LA 2028 but also a home games in Brisbane 2032.

“So, I eat four a day,” he says. “I have a sandwich in the morning - it used to be a burrito - and then I have four burritos throughout the day.”

Boddington has an easy-going demeanour that on first impression doesn’t fit his double life as a full-time Paralympic athlete and full-time accountant committed to helping regular Australians with their taxes.

“The accounting work I do is just normal taxation. I don’t help the big billion-dollar companies, I help normal people,” he says.

But when asked why burritos have become a staple in his high-performance diet, you do get glimpses into Boddington the accountant.

“You know how many carbs are in the wrap, and you can specifically portion out all your protein that are on them. I guess that’s the accountant in me, just being a nerd,” he says.

It’s the same with the blueprint Boddington has mapped out to Brisbane 2032.

“You’re right, it is already in a spreadsheet! I’ve never done a full [Paralympic Games] cycle, so I think that’s going to be really exciting. What we did in 18 months was kind of get to the top of where we needed to, my circle, but I think with a full four years we can do a lot more and go a lot faster,” he says.

“My goal to start with was I thought I could maybe win in LA, I never thought I’d be in Paris but that’s happened now, and now that I’ve won it’s like, well, I’ve got to win in LA. And then nah [Brisbane 2032], it’s my hometown, like, I’m never going to have that chance ever again. Very few people ever even have that chance, so I’ve definitely got to win in Brisbane.

“I think winning on a three-peat I’ll be done. I’ll just check-out. I don’t think life can get any better. I think even if you went on for a fourth, you’d just be chasing the high won’t you.”

Korey Boddington is motivated to win more gold on the world stage. Photo: Supplied

Boddington is still feeling the high of representing his country at the Paris Paralympics, as he prepares for upcoming private screenings of Changing Track ahead of a nation-wide premiere slated for later this year.  

“I jumped at every promotion possibility, and I had a PR agent, I can see how people get lost in it and then they forget who they are,” he says of the global glean of the Games.

“From the time I started track cycling to Paris, the goal was just be the best I could be. It was never chasing a goal, it was always just being one per cent better every day. I didn’t get lost, but I was so focused on that goal I didn’t really realise what I was doing.”

Korey Boddington on the boards in Paris. Photo: Supplied

Boddington’s quick return to his double life afterwards also helped in staying grounded. He loves both occupations but also needs the income he gets from accounting to pursue his dreams on the track.

“I start my day at 4 o’clock,” he says. “I train in the gym at 5.30 and then as soon as I’m done at the gym I’m straight into the office, do a couple of hours at the office, and then I’m off to the velodrome. And once I’m done at the velodrome I come home and do some more work. That’s my Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  My Tuesday, Thursday are full days in the office. So, I get up and do some easy stuff on the rollers in the morning, and then I go into the office and probably do a 10-12-hour day.

“That’s how I make it happen. You think there’s not enough time, but if you make it there’s time there.”

The goal posts, so to speak, have shifted since Paris, from one per cent improvements to that spreadsheet-inspired plan to Brisbane, and the first steppingstone on that will be the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Brazil from October 16-19.

“This year my main goal is to go to Worlds in October in Rio. They were in Rio last year and I got second [in the time trial], so I only have to wait 12 months to get redemption,” Boddington says.

You can do the maths on the burritos.

Cover image: Getty