Matthew Richardson

A former gymnast, British-born Richardson moved to Australia at the age of nine and took up cycling in his early teens in Perth after an elbow injury cut his gymnastics career short.

Already cycling through the Midland Cycle Club, Richardson was invited to attend a ‘come ’n’ try’ track session that saw him subsequently recruited to the Western Australia Institute of Sport.

In 2017, Richardson surged to dual under-19 national titles in the sprint and team sprint, and made his Australian team debut at the 2017 UCI Junior World Championships in Italy where he finished fifth in the team sprint.

In November 2018, Richardson joined the Australian Cycling Team’s Podium Potential Academy for its inaugural class and in early 2019, he won UCI World Cup gold with Tom Clarke and James Brister in the team sprint.

Still a teenager, Richardson was selected to make his elite World Championships debut in 2019 where he finished sixth in the team sprint with Patrick Constable and Nathan Hart.

At the 2020 World Championships, Richardson surged to bronze in the team sprint with Thomas Cornish and Hart. It was Australia’s first podium appearance in the event at a World Championships since 2012.

Richardson made his Olympic Games debut in 2021 at the postponed Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth in the team sprint with Matthew Glaetzer and Hart.

At the first stop of the 2022 UCI Track Nations Cup in Glasgow, Scotland, Richardson alongside Cornish and Leigh Hoffman won Australia's first gold medal at the reinvigorated Track Nations Cup in the team sprint. Richardson would add a silver in the sprint and a bronze in the keirin to his tally at the same event.

Richardson firmly announced himself as one of the world's fastest sprinters at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the team sprint and sprint.

At the 2022 UCI Track World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Richardson won his first rainbow jersey as part of the men's team sprint squad with Cornish, Hoffman and Glaetzer, defeating the Netherlands in the gold medal final. Richardson won silver in the sprint competition.

His 2022 season ended with a bang, firing into top form in the UCI Track Champions League season and eventually winning the sprint title after five rounds throughout Europe.

Richardson picked up from where he left off in 2023, regaining his sprint and keirin national championships, a feat he would repeat in 2024.

After two team sprint gold medals, a keirin gold and sprint bronze at two UCI Track Nations Cup stops, Richardson and his Australian teammates entered the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow hunting a second consecutive year in team sprint rainbows.

Unfortunately, the squad of Richardson, Hoffman, Glaetzer and Cornish would fall short and finish with silver after a pulsating final. Richardson added a world championship keirin silver medal to his collection later in the week.

His rivarly with Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen continued in the 2023 UCI Track Champions League season. Richardson started slowly to the start his defence of the sprint title but finished strongly, besting his rival twice in the sprint matchups over the last three rounds.

Richardson raced to team sprint gold and sprint silver at the Adelaide UCI Track Nations Cup in February of 2024 to start the international season. A month later in Hong Kong, he repeated the same podium results.

Richardson earned selection to his second Olympic Games at Paris 2024.