Amid Australian track cycling's post-Tokyo reset, all sprinter Matt Richardson can see is opportunity.
The 22-year-old will race for his third-straight match sprint title at the national track championships, which start on Saturday at Brisbane's Anna Meares Velodrome.
Track cycling was a major disappointment for Australia at the Tokyo Games, with only one bronze medal and the debacle of Alex Porter's snapped handlebar in men's team pursuit qualifying.
It was the leanest medal haul for the track squad at an Olympics since the 1980 Moscow Games.
Jesse Korf has taken over as AusCycling's performance general manager and one of his key duties will be to revitalise a track program that has under-delivered in every Olympics since its gold medal bounty at Athens 2004.
The women's sprint group is now without Stef Morton and Kaarle McCulloch and Meares' golden era is a distant memory.
Track endurance mainstays Annette Edmondson and Amy Cure also have retired in the last couple of years.
But Richardson is revelling in the aftermath of his Olympics debut, competing in the sprint at Tokyo.
He says the depth of talent in the men's sprint group is strong and he's keen to resume competition against Matthew Glaetzer, who has continued riding post-Tokyo.
"I guess for me, it hasn't been as bad as possibly some of the others after Tokyo," Richardson said.
"It was good to go race over there, but it's gone pretty quick and now we kind of look at a pretty hectic race schedule ahead.
"Comm Games is looming, we have a few nations cups before that and then it's off to the world championships in October.
"We've had a bit of a shake up, but that normally happens post Olympics and the new intake of (nationals) academy guys."
Fellow Tokyo Olympians Nathan Hart and Maeva Plouffe will also race at the March 26-30 senior nationals, which will feature Para-cycling and under-19 competition.
Tokyo gold medallists Paige Greco, Emily Petricola, Darren Hicks and Amanda Reid will headline the Para-cycling events.
