Don’t try telling Louis Stibbard having diabetes and juvenile arthritis will slow you down.
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The Kotara South 15-year-old is probably healthier than most teenagers and is this week in the United States at a talent identification camp for road cycling with Team Novo Nordisk.
It is an amazing opportunity for the Merewether High School year nine student, who will be the only rider from Australia at the camp for 15 to 17-year-olds and will be among the youngest there.
Team Novo Nordisk is a global all-diabetes sports team of cyclists, triathletes and runners, which is spearheaded by the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team.
It comprises nearly 100 athletes from over 20 countries.
This six-day camp is in Athens, Georgia and Stibbard was keen to gain as much experience and knowledge while he was there.
“I just want to get experience and education and to see where I am at compared to other kids from around the world with the same story as me,” he said. “I also want to be able to inspire other kids with diabetes.”
I also want to be able to inspire other kids with diabetes.
- Louis Stibbard
Stibbard was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was six.
“He’d been unwell in his kindergarten year,” Louis’ mother Kylie Stibbard said.
“He just kept getting infection after infection and I’ve had it since I was four so I knew.
“One day after school, I took one look at him … I just knew he just wasn’t right. A day later he was on insulin.”
He also has juvenile arthritis and coeliac disease, all of which means he needs to monitor his diet closely ahead of races.
It was a flare-up of juvenile arthritis while playing rugby that led him to take up cycling.
Specialists suggested he do something which involved less physical contact until it settled down.
“I had a friend who lived around the corner and his parents were absolutely mad keen cyclists and they would take me mountain biking, that really ignited something for me,” Stibbard said.
His main passion is cyclocross, a relatively new sport which involves navigating an obstacle course partly on the bike and partly carrying it.
“I was at a cyclocross race and one of the elite guys that was there was really good friends with the Australian representative for Novo Nordisk and he put me in touch and it went from there,” Stibbard said.