Richardson was born in Maidstone, Kent in England to English parents and moved to Australia for his father's work when he was nine years old. He grew up in Maidstone and then Warwick, Western Australia. As a result, he has both British and Australian citizenship.
As a teenager, Richardson competed in gymnastics and earned podium results at a national level. However, after suffering an elbow injury he turned his interest to cycling.[5][6]
Career
Representating Australia
Richardson cycled for the Midland Cycling Club. He was invited to attend a 'come 'n' try' session and was recruited to the Western Australian Institute of Sport.
Three months before the 2019 World Championships, Richardson relocated to South Australia to join Cycling Australia's Podium Potential Academy. This move paid dividends as Richardson was selected to represent Australia in the team sprint. The team finished in sixth position and were edged out of the finals by eventual silver medallists, France.[5]
Richardson won three medals for Australia at Paris 2024 Olympics; two silver medals in the keirin and the sprint, and a bronze in the team sprint. However, despite representing Australia, it was later revealed that Richardson had already been in discussions to join the Great Britain Cycling Team after the Olympics.[10]
Switch to representating Great Britain
On 19 August, after the conclusion of the 2024 Olympics, it was announced that Richardson would be leaving the Australian cycling roster and would instead represent Great Britain, the country of his birth, after his application to switch allegiance was accepted by the UCI.[11][12][13][14] This move attracted controversy amongst the Australian cycling community.[10] It was later reported that AusCycling was considering whether it wanted to enforce a two-year non-competition order on Richardson, which would ban him from competing at international track cycling events until 2026.[15] However, in a later statement, AusCycling shared that they would not be pursuing this as it had been deemed legally unenforceable.[16]
Richardson's first event in Great Britain's colours was the 2024 UCI Track Champions League. At the first round in Paris he won both the sprint and the keirin, beating rival Harrie Lavreysen and earning him maximum points.[17]
Personal life
Richardson's partner is fellow British track cyclist Emma Finucane.[18]
