Australian track cyclist Matt Richardson aims for Olympic gold in Paris
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.
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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.