Matthew Richardson

Home State: Western Australia

AGE: 25

Club: Midland Cycle Club

State Institute: Western Australian Institute of Sport

A former gymnast, British-born Richardson took up cycling in his early teens after an elbow injury cut his gymnastics career short. 

In 2017, Richardson surged to dual under 19 national titles in the sprint and team sprint, and made his Australian team debut at the 2017 UCI Junior World Championships in Italy where he finished fifth in the team sprint.

In November 2018, Richardson joined the Australian Cycling Team’s Podium Potential Academy for its inaugural class and in early 2019, he won UCI World Cup gold with Tom Clarke and James Brister in the team sprint. 

Still a teenager, Richardson was selected to make his elite World Championships debut in 2019 where he finished sixth in the team sprint with Patrick Constable and Nathan Hart. 

At the 2020 World Championships, Richardson surged to bronze in the team sprint with Thomas Cornish and Hart. It was Australia’s first podium appearance in the event at a World Championships since 2012.

Richardson made his Olympic Games debut in 2021 at the postponed Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth in the team sprint with Matthew Glaetzer and Hart.

At the first stop of the 2022 UCI Track Nations Cup in Glasgow, Scotland, Richardson alongside Cornish and Leigh Hoffman won Australia's first gold medal at the reinvigorated Track Nations Cup in the team sprint. Richardson would add a silver in the sprint and a bronze in the keirin to his tally at the same event.

Richardson firmly announced himself as one of the world's fastest sprinters at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the team sprint and sprint.

At the 2022 UCI Track World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Richardson won his first rainbow jersey as part of the men's team sprint squad with Cornish, Hoffman and Glaetzer, defeating the Netherlands in the gold medal final. Richardson won silver in the sprint competition.

His 2022 season ended with a bang, firing into top form in the UCI Track Champions League season and eventually winning the sprint title after five rounds throughout Europe.