Matthew Richardson

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.

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

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

Born in the English town of Maidstone, Matthew lived in the UK until he was nine before his family moved to Australia for his father’s work.

Three months before the 2019 World Championships, Matthew relocated to South Australia to join Cycling Australia’s Podium Potential Academy. The move paid dividends as Matthew 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, Matthew 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.

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.

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

At the first event of the reinvigorated 2022 UCI Track Nations Cup in Glasgow, Matthew, alongside Thomas Cornish and Leigh Hoffman, won Australia’s first gold medal in the team sprint. Matthew also added a silver in the sprint and a bronze in the keirin to his personal tally.

Matthew then firmly announced himself as one of the world’s fastest sprinters, with a gold-medal winning performance in the men’s sprint final at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Matthew was part of Australia's team sprint squad that beat England to gold and completed a sprint double with a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago's Nicholas Paul in the individual event. He secured victory in race one by a narrow margin before dominating race two to come home by more than half a second.

At the 2022 UCI Track World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, Matthew won his first world title as part of the men’s team sprint squad with Thomas, Leigh Hoffman and Matthew Glaetzer, defeating the Netherlands in the gold medal final. Matthew also won individual silver.

The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome will host the track cycling at the Paris Olympics and Matthew warmed up for the Games when he beat Dutch star Harrie Lavreysen there in November 2023.

Matthew beat Lavreysen, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, in an intense match sprint final.

Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Matthew believes his secret is his commitment to consistent training.

“The biggest thing for me has always been consistent training," he said. "Coming in every day and not missing a rep, set, exercise, track effort – you’re just there, showing up every day and getting it done.

"I’ve had experiences in the past where I’ve had about seven or eight weeks of consistent training, and I’ve just started flying."