After Three Olympics Medals, Australian Switches To Great Britain

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games certainly created headlines, but the vast majority again put the spotlight on dedicated people of a sporting persuasion and their achievements, and whatever your own favourites might be on a discipline front, there were plenty of moments spread across the games that would have wowed and seriously impressed watching fans.

There were plenty of moments that caught fans' eyes for a different reasons though, normally the unfortunate hiccups and the snafu's that can take place in elite competition; pole vaulters unexpectedly connecting with the bar, swimmers crossing lanes, cyclists with the occasional broken seats and for those who like a flutter there will always be odds available on things like that happening.

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They are the outlier though and they give rise to sympathy, but most emotions are centred around success - one of those successes was Australian track cyclist Matt Richardson who picked up three medals during his trip to France.

The 25 year old moved to Western Australia at the age of nine, and as a dual citizen during his 16 years living in the country, he was naturally part of the Australia set up. Having competed in the World Championships since 2020, and having taken part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games (hosted in Birmingham, England), he stepped up to his first Olympics the other month and came home with two silvers and a bronze.

However, he was actually born in Kent and a few days ago he took to social media to announce that he had successfully applied to cycling's governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, to register a switch of his nationality back to Great Britain.

He admitted himself it was not a decision he had 'took lightly' and that it was obviously a 'difficult decision', but having reflected on it, he felt it was the right choice for him to make as he considered his career and future, and he had plenty of thanks and respect for Australia and the AusCycling Team that have played their part in helping to bring him to this point.

With the paperwork now complete, he will become part of GB's sprint squad which is coached by seven time Olympic gold medallist Sir Jason Kenny, and Richardson is clearly looking forward to the new experiences that lie ahead of him.

Jesse Korf, AusCycling's executive general manager did admit the move had been a 'surprise' and that it was hugely 'disappointing' given the success he was having under the charge of their program, but he conceded that he understood the emotional pull associated with representing the country of your birth.

On the surface it seemed an amicable-ish split, but on Wednesday of this week, Australia's governing body suggested otherwise by going public with their belief that Richardson should now be declared ineligible for competition for two years following his nationality switch back to Great Britain.

Union Cycliste Internationale rules state that cyclists who change nationality are then not eligible to compete at the next edition of the World and Continental Championships that take place immediately following the date of their switch, and AusCycling have now stated that their own understanding here is that the two year non-compete period will firmly apply.

Korf again said that there had been 'disappointment around the decision and process' but clearly stated 'he will not compete' at the upcoming World Championships. The annual competition is set to take place in October and will be hosted in Ballerup, Denmark.

Two time Commonwealth Games Champion Richardson has not yet addressed this himself at the time of writing, but if that two year ban is enforced, and the 25 year old had originally felt that he had some mitigation against a full sanction that does now not materialize, it will come as a massive blow - if it had not been accounted for in his decision and his discussions with Team GB.

It seems the two-year threat is the elephant in the room here, as British Cycling has confirmed that they accept Richardson is not eligible for Denmark, nor February's European Championships in Belgium, but they would not be drawn on the two-year threat. It could be the two-year reference has been somewhat lost in translation and Korf simply means the rest of this year and the opening couple of months of 2025.

Union Cycliste Internationale are yet to comment for themselves.