Australian track cyclist Matt Richardson aims for Olympic gold in Paris

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Matt Richardson has numerous accomplishments in track cycling. The dual-reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist was also a member of Australia's world champion team sprint in 2022. Now, he's aiming for Olympic gold at the Paris Games.

Transcript

00:00Matt Richardson knows a thing or two about hard work.

00:06He's in the final phase of Olympic preparations, driven by a clear objective.

00:12I think I've demonstrated over the last couple of years where my level is at,

00:16and my goal is to win three gold medals.

00:20Richardson has come a long way in a short time, claiming two Commonwealth Games golds

00:26and a world championship in the past two years.

00:30The last Olympics was not where I wanted to be,

00:33not the form that I wanted to have for that Olympics,

00:36and very quickly after that, within a year or two, I mean Commies was the year after,

00:40and I just kind of shot up and the results just started flowing and it all happened very quickly.

00:45Richardson's road to cycling was a bumpy one.

00:48An elbow injury forced the talented gymnast to switch his sporting focus as a teenager.

00:53So I was just doing a little bit on the side and the elbow injury happened,

00:56and that was basically Friday afternoon in the doctor's office,

00:59and Monday I was a track cyclist.

01:02Track cycling is very different to road racing.

01:05Everything about the bike is engineered for top speed.

01:08They're light, there's not much to them, obviously not having brakes or gears,

01:12they're very simple machines.

01:14Velodromes are typically 250 metres long, and the one in Paris is eight metres wide.

01:20It's on this track that Richardson will take on the world's best.

01:24Our biggest rivals in the team's sprint are the Dutch team.

01:27Five-time world champions, current Olympic champions.

01:31We've taken one world championship off them.

01:33The only team to beat them in the last five years.

01:38Richardson is quietly confident his team can beat them again and take home gold for Australia.

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