Matthew Richardson

Matthew's Story

Fast Facts

Sport: Cycling – Track
Event: Sprint
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1999
Country Born: Maidstone, Great Britain

About Matthew

Growing up in Warwick, Western Australia Matthew Richardson was more at home on a balance beam than a bike. As a teenager, the emerging gymnast was earning podium results at a national level until an elbow injury closed that sporting chapter.

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I loved this sport #gymnasticts#rings#noteasy#7yearsold
A post shared by Matthew Richardson (@matty__richo) on Nov 7, 2014 at 9:50am PST

But it wasn’t the end of his sporting story and the injury started Richardson on a new journey. Already cycling through the Midland Cycling Club, Richardson was invited to attend a ‘come ’n’ try’ session and he was recruited to the Western Australia Institute of Sport.

The core strength Richardson had developed over many years of gymnastics was transferrable to track cycling and his explosive skills were quickly noticed.

He had been living in the UK for nine years before his family moved to Australia for his father’s work.

Three months prior to the 2019 World Championships, Richardson relocated to South Australia to join Cycling Australia’s Podium Potential Academy. The move paid dividends as Richardson was selected to represent Australia in the team sprint where the trio finished in sixth position, edged out of the finals by eventual silver medallists France.

At the 2020 World Championships, Richardson surged to bronze in the team sprint with Thomas Cornish and Nathan Hart. It was Australia’s highest finish in this event at a World Championships in eight years.

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#Berlin2020 “It was unfortunate with Matt Glaetzer getting injured quite recently, but we backed Tom Cornish here and he delivered exceptionally today. It was really great to string three solid rides together.” @nathan_hart4 on winning team sprint bronze with @matty__richo & @thomascornish_ #auscyclingteam | The #AusCyclingTeam is proudly supported by: Cycling Australia : @cyclingaustralia Sport Australia : @sportaus Australian Olympic Team : @ausolympicteam Paralympics Australia : @ausparalympics Commonwealth Games Australia : @commgamesaus Santini : @santini_cycling Science In Sport : @scienceinsport Premax: @premax.co Stage & Screen : @stageandscreenau Training Peaks: @trainingpeaks Argon18 : @argon18bike Kask : @kask_cycling Bont Cycling : @bontcycling Vittoria Tires : @vittoria_australia ZIPP : @Zippspeed |
A post shared by Australian Cycling Team (@australiancyclingteam) on Feb 26, 2020 at 1:29pm PST

The former gymnast turned track sprinter made his Olympic debut in Tokyo where he was part of Australia’s team sprint which finished fourth.

Racing with Nathan Hart and Matthew Glaetzer, they qualified third fastest in 42.371secs and beat the Russian Olympic Committee in the next round. They then faced France in the bronze medal race where the French won by 1.7secs to claim a spot on the podium.

Richardson also rode the individual sprint where he qualified 21st in a time of 9.685secs and was eliminated in the subsequent round and repechage.

01 of 01 / Matthew Richardson, Nathan Hart and Thomas Cornish of Australia during the Mens Team Sprint during the Cambridge UCI Track World Cup at the Avantidrome on December 06, 2019 in Cambridge, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)