Former Australian world champion Katherine Bates says some athletes at AusCycling feel “a bit ripped off” following Matt Richardson’s announcement on Monday that he is switching nationality and will now compete for Great Britain.
Richardson, who won three medals for Australia at the recent Paris Olympics, including silver in both individual sprint events, was born in Maidstone in Kent to British parents. He moved to Western Australia when he was nine because of his father’s job.
The 25-year-old told Telegraph Sport on Monday that he was “hugely grateful” to everyone at AusCycling for their support over the years and that he “would never want to be disrespectful” to Australia. But he said he had grown up supporting Team GB and it slowly dawned on him that he would regret it forever if he didn’t pursue his dream.
Richardson said he expected there to be a lot of criticism in Australia, but he hoped his friends and teammates would understand why it was so important to him.
“I expect people to be unhappy or disappointed or sad or, you know, frustrated or whatever the emotion is,” he said. “That’s understandable. But yeah, I’ll try to keep everything as positive as possible. Otherwise, it’ll eat away at me a little bit.”
Bates, who won the world points title in 2007 and was a two-time Commonwealth champion in the same discipline, admitted Richardson’s move was painful, likening it to “a breakup you never saw coming”.
“There are a lot of people this morning who just can’t believe it and some of them feel quite disappointed personally because it took them by surprise,” she told the ABC Sport Daily podcast. “Others feel a bit ripped off because their support for him over the years has come at the expense of supporting other athletes.”
Bates acknowledged that Richardson had every right to switch nationalities, but questioned why he had chosen to make the switch now rather than earlier in his career. Richardson represented Australia at both the Tokyo and Paris Games.
“I think the bond with your country is very strong, but if that bond is there, I don’t really know why he didn’t take this step years ago,” Bates said. “It doesn’t really sit well with me that if that was the case all along, why he’s taken this path with AusCycling.”
Richardson, who will miss the World Championships later this year and the European Championships early next year as part of his qualification process, will stay with his girlfriend, Olympic gold medallist Emma Finucane, while he finds a rented house in Manchester, close to the national velodrome.
“I feel super blessed and lucky that I have the opportunity to realize my dream,” he said.
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