Matildas star ready for comeback after ‘year and a half of hell’

Two Matildas who are appearing on the celebrity version of The Amazing Race have spoken about how they fared on the reality TV series.

Still shining in yellow, Emily Gielnik is not done with the Matildas.

Champion footballers Gielnik and Chloe Logarzo are representing the yellow team in this year’s The Amazing Race Australia Celebrity Edition and have made it so far to top six.

The race has ignited fire in the belly for Gielnik after she missed this year’s Olympics and the 2023 FIFA World Cup due to injury.

“I’m ready for a fresh start after a year and a half of hell,” she told Confidential.

Still madly in love with the sport of football, the 32-year-old’s time is not up.

The Amazing Race Australia contestants and Matilda's football stars Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik, in Surry Hills, today. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“I still have three to four years in me and I’d love to try and push feor one more major tournament,” she said.

“I’m going to push hard to get back in there, I look after myself so well so I’m going to push hard to get back in it.”

Amazing Race Australia contestants Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik. Picture: Supplied

Driven by competition, Gielnik admitted she was more anxious participating on The Amazing Race reality TV show than the Olympics or World Cup.

“I’m a very anxious person … I was more nervous and anxious about racing than I was being a World Cup winner and the Olympics, which is crazy,” she said.

“It’s different, it’s not like fighting for a trophy or medal, it was the fear of failure and not making it through. My heart was pumping every single day, I thrived off that adrenaline anxiousness … I don’t think it ever got the better of me, but it definitely challenged me more than I’ve ever been challenged before.”

Both signed for different teams in Melbourne, the pair are ready to play the new season, yet Logarzo is ready to move to the US to settle down with her partner.

Amazing Race Australia contestants Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik. Picture: Supplied

“I’m retiring, I’m ready to experience life. The show and the last three years have taught me that I’m fine without football,” she said.

“At the start of my career, I would never do anything. I didn’t go to parties, I would miss funerals, I did everything possible to make sure that I had some chance (for the team).”

The 29-year-old is set to have a destination wedding in Thailand with her firefighter fiance, McKenzie Berryhill, in November, and is ready to embrace the next chapter of her life.

“For me, I’m at the position where I’m taking time off to get married, I’m looking forward to

to having babies and starting a family.”