Matthew Richardson (cycling) announced himself as one of the world’s leading sprinters when he won gold in both the individual and team sprint at his first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. He was also 4th in both the keirin and 1km time trial.

British-born Richardson grew up in Maidstone, Kent, but the family moved to Western Australia for his father’s work when he was nine. His first passion was gymnastics where he won a bronze medal at the junior nationals.

When he was 14, an elbow injury ended his budding gymnastics career and he joined Midland Cycling Club in Perth. Within a year he was working with the WA Sports Institute and at 19 made his world championships debut in the team sprint. Richardson competed in all three sprint events on his Olympic debut in Tokyo with the best result of 4th in the team sprint. 

The West Australian powerhouse has also won multiple medals at the world track championships, including his first rainbow jersey in the team sprint in 2022 with Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Glaetzer and Thomas Cornish in France.