Matthew Richardson speaks out on cycling defection as Australia ‘interrogates’ two-year ban after Olympics

Matthew Richardson remains defiant despite Australian cycling officials investigating the possibility of a two-year ban from international competition following his defection to Great Britain.

Just days after the 25-year-old won three medals at the Olympics in the green and gold, Richardson stunned the country when he announced he had switched allegiances to his “home nation”.

The English-born athlete, whose family moved to Perth when he was nine, contacted British officials himself and never added “a little bit of spice to the mix” by telling Australia before the Olympics.

Richardson will not compete at the October world championships and AusCycling is now in discussions about a longer non-compete clause.

“There’s disappointment around the decision and the process and not knowing around Matt’s circumstances,” AusCycling high-performance boss Korf said.

“The non-competition duration and clauses, that is being interrogated and looked into at the moment together with the UCI (cycling governing body) and ASC (Australian Sports Commission).

“That is something that we would have to discuss internally because we obviously have a big say in that and we need to review that.

“On that same token the AIS-slash-ASC is a big stakeholder in that they provide a lot of the funding. So that would have to be a conversation to get to a joint decision before we can share that and start a conversation with UCI and Matt and British Cycling.”

There is no question Richardson will race again but he has now declared he “could easily retire today a happy man”.

“I have achieved a world championship, I have achieved Commonwealth Games gold and I am a three-time Olympic medallist,” he told the ABC.

“This is about chasing a dream. If I never medalled in an event from now for my career, I don’t mind. If there is more to come then that’s just a bonus, the dream is now to race for Great Britain from now on.

“I’m 25, I’m what some might say mid-way through my career and just decided that if I was going to make the move it’d be now and that’s basically all it boils down to and that’s why the timing is now.”

Richardson has received a wave of backlash from disappointed Australian cycling fans in the days since the switch.

He closed comments on his Instagram announcement and now says people are “unfortunately very quickly” forgetting his commitment to and results for Australia.

“Hopefully they can be reminded of that at some point in the future and not be too bitter for too long,” he said.

Richardson is in the midst of a rivalry with Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen but he said he did not move solely to use Great Britain’s greater resources to help him in the fight.

Off the track, his partner is Great Britain’s 21-year-old cycling star Emma Finucane, an individual sprint world champion who won team sprint gold in Paris.

“The main reason is being British, being born in the UK and holding that dual-citizenship,” Richardson said.

“Just felt a lot of pull back to home whenever I’d race internationally I felt like it’d be nice one day to maybe race for my home nation and pull on the red suit.

“I think there is no question about it with the medals that I won where my heart was coming into the Games, you know I gave it absolutely everything I possibly could for Australia and left no stone unturned.

“I can see myself in the UK while my cycling career lasts and can also see myself coming back to Perth to the sunshine once it’s all done and dusted.”

Richardson said plotting the move while preparing to race for Australia at the Olympics was “complex”, as was the program itself.

His secret farewell kicked off with a bronze medal in the team sprint before claiming silver in the solo sprint and, on the final day, silver in keirin.

“I had a moment when I was walking up the stairs for the kieren final, very last race I knew I was racing for Australia, and I just wanted to give it my absolute best and really bring home another medal for Australia,” Richardson said.

“It was an interesting preparation for the Olympics knowing what was to come afterwards, but that didn’t distract me, that didn’t take away from any effort I put into training.

“I was quite nervous after the Olympics having to sit down and have those hard conversations with coaches and staff I have strong close relationships with and it was never going to be easy, but it was OK.

“I didn’t tell any of the athletes or any of the staff pre-Games, purely because this is something I needed to deal with and I didn’t want to put that burden on anyone and distract from anyone’s Olympic prep.

“The Olympic Games is a stressful period enough let alone me adding a little bit of spice to the mix with this information.”

In interviews with British media, Richardson said potential Olympic selection ramifications were a reason for keeping his secret from Australia.

Korf said it is impossible to know whether Australia would have dropped Richardson from the Paris had they found out.

“We would surely have considered the impact and ramifications and opportunity for other riders,” he said.

“In that same breath Matt was on an exceptional trajectory and performed exceptionally at the Games.

“So, yeah, all things would have been considered. I don’t know if there would have been ramifications.

“It may or may not have and they could have been both from our side or the AOC’s (Australian Olympic Committee) side.”

- with AAP