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Before the 2024 Olympics, fans had become accustomed to watching Team GB dominate Olympic track cycling events, having won seven gold medals in Beijing and London and six in both Rio and Tokyo.
However, this trend was bucked in Paris, with British cyclists taking home a variety of medals, but only one of them gold. The men did not take a single gold medal, finishing silver in the team sprint and team pursuit.
So, when Stephen Park, the performance director of British Cycling, predicted that the men would win team sprint gold in Los Angeles in 2028, it may have come across as overly optimistic.
Nevertheless, Park knew that an important development was going on behind the scenes – Australia’s Matt Richardson, who won silver in the individual sprint and keirin, was in the final stages in the process of switching nationality to Great Britain.
The change was announced by British Cycling on Monday, 19 August, and Richardson said that the switch was “about embracing a new chapter in my journey and chasing a dream, a dream that is to race for the county which I was born in”.
And an exclusive interview with The Telegraph has revealed the ins and outs of the process, including the secret talks that took place to bring Richardson to Team GB.
“It’s a massive stress relief finally having it out there,” Richardson said, adding: “it’s been so hard keeping it from everyone. But I couldn’t be happier”.
The 25-year-old, who was born in Maidstone, Kent, but moved to Australia aged nine, has long wanted to race for the country he was born in. He has previously gone as far as to say that changing nationalities had “crossed his mind” when speaking to journalists at the UCI Track Champions League finale in London in 2022.
“I guess in my mind it’s something I wanted to do for a long time, since I did my first international competition at junior worlds [in 2017],” he told The Telegraph.
“I just kind of felt this sense of, you know, seeing the British team compete and going ‘Oh, that would be [amazing]… That feels like my country.’ It’s just been a thing for the last seven years, something I’ve always kept in the back of my mind,” he added.
“Of course, at that time when I was asked about it, I couldn’t sit there with an Australian jersey in the media and say ‘I want to race for GB.’ I wanted to be respectful towards Australia because they did such a lot for me. I have so much respect for them. But it was always there.”
Richardson said that he started looking at making the change in December of last year, having had “unfinished business from Tokyo”, where he finished fourth in the men’s team sprint.
He set the process in motion, using his previous relationship with GB Cycling Track head coach Jon Norfolk to set up a “secret meeting”.
Richardson said that he expects “a bit of backlash”, as he owes Cycling Australia “so much”.
He added that he had a phone call with Kenny to discuss his goals and ambitions, but he also had to keep this hidden from his Australian colleagues and teammates.
Richardson and Team GB rider Emma Finucane, who won gold in the women’s team sprint in Paris, have been in a relationship since January, and he says that his fellow Brit is “inspiring to me”.
“It’s awesome to have her by my side and to be by her side and watch her achieve her goals. She is only going to get better.”
His first opportunity to race for GB will be at the Track Champions League later this year, and the 25-year-old is convinced that the future is bright for him and his new teammates.
“If I’m going to call it now, I’d say the gold final in LA is between GB and Australia,” he said.
“If we can stay fit and healthy and Australia do the same, I think that’s where the fight’s going to be. But I think GB are going to come out on top.”
