Matthew Richardson stands proudly in the middle of the velodrome in London, wearing a red, white and blue skating suit and holding a Union Flag. “I’m all for this,” the 25-year-old told Mail Sport. ‘I absolutely love it. I’m living my dream.’
For Richardson, that dream is – and has always been – to cycle for Great Britain. The problem was that to represent his native country he had to defect from Australia, for whom he won three Olympic medals in the summer and where he had lived since the age of nine.
Little wonder, then, that his move – announced just a week after Paris 2024 – caused such a stir Down Under.
It was likened to a “breakup you never saw coming” by Australia’s former world champion Katherine Bates, who said some of the country’s riders felt “ripped off”. AusCycling also lashed out at their former sprinter and banned him from ever racing for them again.
A perplexed Richardson humorously dismissed the sanction as “like you quit your job and three months later they say, ‘Well, you’re fired.’ However, it has been harder to shake off the public condemnation he has faced.
Matthew Richardson’s decision to switch his allegiance from Australia to Britain has caused a huge stir Down Under
The 25-year-old told Mail Sport that he is ‘living the dream’ after being able to represent his native country
Richardson won three medals at the Paris Olympics while wearing the green and gold of Australia
“It’s never easy, is it?” he admits. ‘If people always talk negatively about you, that’s not the nicest thing there is.
‘But everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just like I am entitled to make my own career choices. You can’t make everyone happy. But people who know me haven’t said anything negative, because they actually know why I did what I did.”
So why did he do it? From the outside, there seem to be plenty of good reasons. Professionally, Richardson now races for the best-funded team, which has won the most track medals at each of the last five Olympics. Personally, he will live much closer to his Welsh girlfriend Emma Finucane, a fellow sprint cyclist and winner of three medals in Paris.
However, Richardson insists his decision was purely down to the emotional pull of his motherland, as he was born in Maidstone to British parents and only moved to Perth because of his father’s job.
“The most important thing was that I got to race for the country I was born in,” he says. “Everything else that comes from that just happens to be a bonus.
‘The UK has always been part of who I am. Emotionally it was difficult when we moved to Australia. I remember being very sad because I had to be away from all my friends and family. My grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all still live in Maidstone.
‘Obviously you’re settling in a new place and making new friends, but I always felt connected to Britain and my ultimate home. Keeping the British passport the whole time was just smart of my parents.’
Richardson’s first sporting love was actually gymnastics, but an elbow injury saw him turn his attention to track cycling in Perth in his early teens. He came through the junior ranks before making his senior debut in Australia in 2019 and his Olympic bow two years later in Tokyo, where he finished fourth in the team sprint.
Born in Maidstone to British parents, Richardson insisted his decision was purely down to the emotional appeal of his motherland.
The move will allow Richardson to live much closer to his Welsh girlfriend Emma Finucane, a fellow sprint cyclist and winner of three medals in Pari.
In Paris 2024, Richardson claimed silver in the sprint and keirin and bronze in the team sprint. However, he entered those Games knowing it would be the last time he would wear green and gold, having secretly signed his move to Britain before the Olympics following five months of confidential talks.
“It wasn’t that hard to keep it a secret,” Richardson points out. ‘I had made the decision and then just focused on the Olympics and doing my best for Australia.
‘I showed that there was not a single moment of hesitation or lack of commitment. I had the best men’s individual sprint results (by an Australian) since 2004, so there was absolutely no complacency in the run-up to the Olympics, even though I knew what my plans were. I really gave everything for Australia.’
Richardson quit his life in Australia and moved to Manchester in August, but was ineligible to race for his new country at the World Championships in October under the rules of cycling’s international governing body.
His first international appearance for Great Britain will not come until the Track Nations Cup in the spring. However, he was billed as a British rider and wore red, white and blue for the first time last month at the Track Champions League in Paris, where he defeated his Olympic nemesis Harrie Lavreysen to win both the sprint and keirin.
“That was another pinch-me moment,” he says. ‘The first was when I went to the track in Manchester for the first time and bought all my equipment. I remember putting on the British skating suit and it was like, “Wow, I’m actually here and I’m wearing this kit.” It’s just surreal that all this is happening.”
Another surreal experience for Richardson came when six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy – who has been tragically diagnosed with terminal cancer – invited him to his home for coffee.
“The earliest memory I have of Olympic sport was being on holiday in France and watching him win the keirin final in 2008,” he recalls. ‘So when I saw him in 2008 and when he messaged me a few weeks after I moved and said, ‘Let’s catch up for coffee’, I thought, ‘What is my life?’.
The British-born cyclist already knew the Paris Games would be his last time wearing green and gold, having secretly signed his move to Britain before the Olympics
Another surreal experience for Richardson came when six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy
Jason Kenny, who surpassed Hoy as Britain’s most successful Olympian when he won his seventh gold in Tokyo, is now Richardson’s coach at British Cycling
‘He invited me to his house and we had a chat. He said, “Just block out the noise, you’re where you want to be.” It’s just a great feeling to have the support of someone like Chris. He’s a phenomenal person, he was a phenomenal athlete, and I feel fortunate enough to call him a friend now.”
However, Hoy isn’t the only one of Richardson’s Olympic heroes he can now call a friend. Jason Kenny, who surpassed Hoy as Britain’s most successful Olympian when he won his seventh gold in Tokyo, is now Richardson’s coach at British Cycling.
“He’s one of the best ever Olympians for GB, so it’s really inspiring for me to know what he’s achieved and it’s about getting the most out of him,” he says.
‘After he won the Keirin final in Tokyo I thought, “That was great, he’s just won seven Olympic gold medals, I’m going to get him to sign my race number”. It was sick.
“I asked him about it recently, but he doesn’t remember, and that’s a bit of a shame. But that will be a moment I cherish.”
Kenny was, of course, on the same British team as his wife Laura, who also claimed five Olympic gold medals. But now Richardson and Finucane are being talked about as cycling’s new golden couple after winning six medals together in Paris – with the aim of winning six golds together in Los Angeles in 2028.
“If people talk about you like that, it means you’re probably doing something, right?” adds Richardson. “It will be cool to work towards the same goals as them. There are three races to win and the aim will be to win them all.”