Matthew Richardson has been banned from ever racing for Australia again (Image: Getty)
Track cyclist Matthew Richardson has admitted he was caught off guard by Australian cycling’s decision to ban him for life. It comes after the 25-year-old defected to despite winning three medals for AusCycling at the in the summer.
Richardson, who was born in Maidstone, England, to English parents, moved to Australia at the age of nine. Having started cycling in his early teens, his entire development took place Down Under.
He went on to become a world champion and a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist before claiming two silver medals in the Kierin and Sprint events in Paris and bronze in the Team Sprint. But Richardson stunned the cycling world just weeks later by announcing his decision to race for the nation of his birth instead.
Richardson defected to Great Britain weeks after the Olympics (Image: Getty)
AusCyling was furious at the decision and attempted to impose a two-year international ban on him under non-competition clauses in his athlete membership agreement. The drastic punishment could not be enforced by law, so they resorted to banning him from ever being able to rejoin their cycling team, claiming he had withheld information regarding his decision from his coaches before the Olympics.
Richardson has now hit back at his former team, saying: “I didn’t know it was coming. I guess they were just keen to get one last blow, a final word. I thought it was pretty obvious that by wanting to ride for GB for the rest of my career, that would mean I didn’t want to ride for Australia.
“It’s almost like, you leave your job, and three months later they go, ‘Yeah, well, you’re fired. Well, I already left.’ It was just words on a piece of paper and don’t carry much weight for me.”
The track cyclist won three Olympic medals for Australia (Image: Getty)
Richardson dismissed the idea that he threatened AusCycling’s intellectual property by wanting to take his bike, cockpit, and race suit with him after the Olympics. And he claimed he was never concerned about receiving a worldwide two-year ban despite AusCycling calling for one. Richardson stated he holds no grudges towards AusCycling, saying he is “thankful” for its role in shaping his career.
He explained: “I’ve always been respectful to AusCycling and been very thankful for everything they did for me over the years. And, I really did think I repaid them with results.
“Unfortunately, noise was created, but I sleep well at night knowing that that noise didn’t come from myself. Hopefully, in years to come, myself and AusCycling can come to some sort of understanding, but for now I hope they’ve had their last word, we can put it to bed and enjoy riding in circles.”