Matthew Richardson has broken his silence after he shocked Australia by defecting to Great Britain – and the Paris Olympics silver medallist had a harsh message for his critics.
The 25-year-old’s decision to give up wearing the green and gold has left Aussie sports fans furious, with his fellow cyclists also lashing out at the move.
Australia now is exploring whether he can be banned from international cycling for two years following his shock defection to Great Britain.
Richardson – raced in Paris while keeping his choice a secret – lashed out at his critics on Wednesday.
‘I obviously understood that there would be a bit of bitterness around this decision, but at the end of the day it’s my career and it’s my life,’ he told the ABC.
‘Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It’s up to me whether I want to listen to it or not, and I’ve obviously chosen not to.’
There has been speculation that money is behind Richardson’s switch, but the English-born star denied that.
‘When I grew up I was watching people like Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny win gold medals at the Olympic Games for GB, and those sort of memories really resonate with a kid,’ he said.
Matthew Richardson has a blunt message for the many critics who have blasted him for making a shock switch to Great Britain after riding for Australia (pictured) in Paris
The 25-year-old, English-born star has rejected claims he only defected for financial reasons – and snapped back at another Aussie cyclist who said the funding that helped him succeed would’ve been better spent on athletes who are loyal to their country
‘It kind of burnt itself in my brain, and that has just kind of stuck with me ever since.’
Aussie cyclist Katherine Bates has blasted Richardson, saying his ‘blindsided’ teammates feel ‘ripped off’ because the funding that went to him could have been used to support athletes who remained loyal to their country.
His response was blunt.
‘The investment that was put into me over the last few years in Australian cycling, I feel like I made a good return on that investment, winning two silver medals and a bronze medal at the Olympic Games for Australia,’ he said.
He went on to explain that he kept the impending switch a secret from his fellow cyclists and Aussie officials in Paris because he didn’t want them ‘to have the burden of having that and keeping that under wraps’.
Aussie cycling officials are now pushing for him to be banned from competing for two years.
Richardson took two silvers and a bronze in Paris – and says that represents a great return on the investment Australia made in him
‘There’s disappointment around the decision and the process and not knowing around Matt’s circumstances,’ AusCycling’s executive general manager, performance, Jesse Korf, said on Tuesday.
Korf said whether a two-year non-competition clause could be applied to Richardson was being investigated.
‘For sure he will not compete at the upcoming world championships [in October],’ Korf said.
‘But the non-competition duration and clauses, that is being interrogated and looked into at the moment together with the UCI and ASC [Australian Sports Commission].’
Korf said it was ‘too early to tell’ if AusCycling wanted to enforce any two-year non-competition clause.
‘That is something that we would have to discuss internally because we obviously have a big say in that and we need to review that,’ he said.
Aussie cycling star Katherine Bates (pictured right) said the defection ‘blindsided’ the team and left some athletes feeling ‘ripped off’
‘On that same token the AIS-slash-ASC is a big stakeholder in that they provide a lot of the funding.
‘So that would have to be a conversation to get to a joint decision before we can share that and start a conversation with UCI and Matt and British Cycling.’
Richardson was born in Maidstone, England and moved to Australia at the age of nine.
British Cycling, which has a financial budget three times larger than AusCycling, told Korf they didn’t ‘proactively reach out’ to entice Richardson.
Instead, the 25-year-old contacted the Brits in secret.
‘There would have had to be discussions (with British Cycling) prior to Matt lodging his procedure with the UCI which got finalised at least three months ago,’ Korf said.
‘It’s highly likely that there would have been conversations between February and April. However the nature of that, I am not aware of.’
