The surprise news soon after the Paris Olympic Games that Matthew Richardson, who had delivered three medals for Australia on the track, was shifting his allegiance to Great Britain triggered a review from AusCycling which has imposed sanctions but ultimately concluded that a two-year non-competition clause was legally unenforceable.
Richardson, who claimed bronze in the team sprint and silver in both the keirin and individual sprint, was born in Maidstone, Kent and lived in Australia since the age of nine. He announced in August that he would return to the United Kingdom and switch nationalities.
"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," said the national federation in a statement.
AusCycling said that key findings of the review included that Richardson had requested that the UCI delay official disclosure of his nationality change until after the Olympics, a request that was supported by British Cycling and also that he withheld his decision from AusCycling, his teammates and key stakeholders before the Olympic Games.
The national body also said that after Paris but before the decision was announced he also 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," said AusCycling.
As part of the review, AusCycling said that it had also looked into what sanctions it could apply, imposing a ban on rejoining the Australian cycling team at any point, use of any resources associated with the team or its partners and ineligibility for any AusCycling-related awards.
While Richardson donned the Great Britain colours for the first time at the opening weekend of the UCI Track Champions League last weekend, he is technically unable to compete for Great Britain till early next year due to UCI regulations and was forced to miss October's World Championships. However, the Australian body concluded that the prospect of a much more impactful two-year ban on competing was not an option that was in reality available.
"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," AusCycling said. "This clause will be reviewed for future athlete agreements."
Great Britain came in ahead of Australia to claim silver in the Men's Team Sprint in the 2024 Olympic Games, though in the individual men's sprint, Richardson came in ahead of Great Britain's Jack Carlin to secure the silver. In the Men's Keirin Carlin crashed out while Richardson took second and his then-Australian teammate Matthew Glaetzer secured bronze. Glaetzer retired after Paris.
