Track cyclist Matt Richardson has been banned from representing Australia for life after he stunned the sport by joining the British team just weeks after winning three Olympic medals in the green and gold.
The 25-year-old claimed silver in the individual sprint and keirin as well as bronze in the team sprint at the Paris Games in August.
But Richardson, who was born in England before moving to Western Australia aged nine, then announced he was switching allegiances.
A review by Australian cycling’s governing body found the way he acted “conflicted with the values of AusCycling, the Australian national team and the broader cycling community”.
As a result, he will never be able rejoin the Australian cycling team.
“He is also prohibited from using any resources associated with the Australian cycling team or its partners,” AusCycling said late Monday.
The review claimed Richardson and world cycling’s governing body UCI colluded to keep secret his nationality change until after the Olympics, with the support of British Cycling.
“He also withheld news of his decision from AusCycling, his teammates, and key stakeholders prior to the Games,” it added.
The UCI said Tuesday that they had made the change on the date requested by Richardson — August 19 — and that only Richardson had been involved in the request.
The UCI also indicated that they informed both national federations as soon as the nationality change had been made official.
AusCycling also berated Richardson for asking to take Australian property including a custom bike, cockpit and Olympic race suit with him after the Games, before he announced his intentions.
“This represented an unacceptable risk to AusCycling’s intellectual property,” it said.
In announcing his decision in August, Richardson said “switching nationality was a difficult decision and not one I took lightly”.
“It was a personal choice, made after careful consideration of my career and future,” he added.
Richardson was also a double gold medal winner at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and has five world championship medals, including gold in the 2022 team sprint.
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