Matthew Richardson has said a line was crossed after the crash in Japan that left him in hospital for four days, as the British sprinter prepares for his comeback at next week's UCI Track World Championships.
The 27-year-old was taken down during a Keirin World Series event in Tachikawa at the end of July, with Gento Suzuki later disqualified from the race. Richardson accepted that physical contact is part of Japanese keirin racing, but said this incident went beyond what international riders expected to deal with.
Richardson: ‘A line was crossed’
Richardson made clear that he was not surprised by the intensity of the event itself. He said international riders understood the risks when they entered Japanese keirin, describing it as a format where there is always a level of “argy-bargy”.
But he drew a firm line between hard racing and a move that deliberately takes another rider out. “I think there is a difference between argy-bargy and intentionally taking a wider line to hit someone off your bike,” he said.
That is the key point here. Richardson is not complaining about a close-running race or a bruising contest. He is saying the incident in Tachikawa moved beyond accepted racecraft and into something that put safety at risk.
Why the crash matters ahead of the world championships
The timing makes the incident even more significant. Richardson was injured at the end of July, spent four days in hospital, and is now due to return to competition next week at the UCI Track World Championships.
For any rider, that is a difficult turnaround. For a sprinter heading into a major championship, it also raises the obvious question of how much the summer interruption has taken out of him physically and mentally.
Richardson did not hide the impact of the crash. “It’s just a shame that a rider has decided to put another person’s safety at risk like that,” he said. “We do understand the risks, but I think that was probably a step too far.”
That is a measured but clear verdict. He is not turning the episode into a wider row, but he is making it plain that he believes the boundary was crossed.
What happened in Tachikawa?
The incident took place during the Keirin World Series in Tachikawa, Japan. Richardson crashed and was later hospitalised, while Suzuki was disqualified after the race.
Suzuki later apologised, saying: “I’m sorry for disqualifying in Tachikawa. There are no excuses – it was simply down to my own lack of skill!”
That apology closes the loop on the immediate race issue, but it does not change the wider sporting concern. Richardson has lost time, suffered the consequences of the crash, and now returns to the track with a world championship on the horizon.
So the focus now moves to next week. Richardson’s comeback will not just be about form; it will also be about how he responds after a summer incident he clearly believes should never have happened.
