Australia slaps Olympic track cycling medallist Matthew Richardson with lifetime ban

The body for governance of cycling in Australia has banned Olympic silver medalist Matthew Richardson from ever competing for the green and gold again.

AusCycling has released the findings of a review into the circumstances in which the track cyclist defected to Great Britain in the aftermath of the Paris Olympics earlier this year.

Richardson won silver medals for Australia in the sprint and keirin events in Paris, as well as bronze in the team sprint. He also won two golds at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and has five World Championships medals to his name.

His move to officially change nationality was controversial when he made the shock announcement in August.

Now, he’s had the book thrown at him on the way out by AusCycling, which released a document outlining the consequences of the decision.

“The review, which involved a thorough investigation of Richardson’s actions, has determined he acted in a way which conflicted with the values of AusCycling, the Australian National Team and the broader cycling community,” the document reads.

“Key findings from the review include:

• Richardson requested that the world cycling body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, delay official disclosure of his nationality change until after the Olympic Games. This request was supported by British Cycling.
• He also withheld news of his decision from AusCycling, his teammates, and key stakeholders prior to the Games.
• After the Games, but before announcing his decision, Richardson asked to take AusCycling property including a custom bike, cockpit, and Olympic race suit to Great Britain. This represented an unacceptable risk to AusCycling’s intellectual property.

“As a result of the review, AusCycling has imposed the following sanctions:

• Richardson will not be eligible to rejoin the Australian Cycling Team at any point in the future.
• He is also prohibited from using any resources associated with the Australian Cycling Team or its partners.
• Richardson will be ineligible for any AusCycling-related awards, effective immediately.”

The Australian cycling body said it tried to take tougher action but could not.

“AusCycling investigated the imposition of a two-year non-competition clause as outlined in Richardson’s athlete’s membership agreement, but such a ban was deemed legally unenforceable. This clause will be reviewed for future athlete agreements,” it said.

“A UCI ban prevented Richardson from competing for Great Britain at the recent Track World Championships and he remains unable to represent the nation until early next year.

AusCycling EGM of performance Jesse Korf said the review was in line with the values of the sport in Australia.

“These decisions underscore AusCycling’s adherence to the values of the Australian National Team and our broader commitment to the principle of ‘win well’,” he said.

“Integrity, respect and trust are foundational to our team and organisation, and we remain focused on fostering an environment that upholds these standards.”