Matt Richardson and Matt Glaetzer win medals in the men’s keirin at Paris Olympic Games

Sprint kings Matt Richardson and Matt Glaetzer have won silver and bronze to end Australia’s most successful track cycling campaign in 20 years.

Australia’s party at Paris’s National Velodrome has ended with a bag of medals with sprint kings Matt Richardson and Matt Glaetzer winning silver and bronze to end the most successful track cycling campaign in 20 years.

Reminiscent of Steven Bradbury, Glaetzer was last through the final corner of the men’s keirin final before a major crash involving three riders in front saw him cross the line third.

Richardson battled Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen for the gold medal, only to lose by 0.056 seconds. It adds to the bronze medal the Australians won in the team sprint and marked a joyous end to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

It capped a remarkable recovery for Australia’s track cyclists just three years after a shocking Tokyo campaign left a handful of riders considering throwing in the towel.

Bronze medalist Matthew Glaetzer and silver medalist Matthew Richardson celebrate with family after the Men's Keirin. Picture: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Now they’re leaving Paris on cloud-nine with the 2024 campaign delivering one gold medal, two silver medals and two bronze medals.

Richardson’s silver and the narrow loss to world champion Lavreysen in the keirin and individual sprint has added to sky-high hopes he will become the dominant force of Australia’s track cycling squad for the next eight years.

The Paris campaign has boosted morale in AusCycling and raised hopes of challenging for more gold medals at Los Angeles in 2028.

While the men stood on the podium four times during the seven-day competition Australia’s women have work to do to reach the same speed, which endurance rider Maeve Plouffe expects will happen before Los Angeles.

Australia’s young riders Chloe Moran and gold medalists Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn are also tipped to be future stars of the sport.

Netherlands' Harrie Lavreysen (R) and Australia's Matthew Richardson (L) sprint as Britain's Jack Carlin, Malaysia's Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Japan's Shinji Nakano (rear) crash during the men's track cycling keirin final. Picture: John Macdougall / AFP

Matthew Glaetzer swoops in for bronze. Picture: Sebastien Bozon / AFP

Nobody is carrying more pressure than Richardson, however, with whispers the student of the sport could become the best in the world.

The retirement of Glaetzer and Richardson’s narrow losses to superstar Lavreysen has fuelled hope the 25-year-old will lead Australia’s track cycling assault in Los Angeles.

His coaches have praised the calmness and maturity shown by the 25-year-old in Paris, his second Olympic Games.

The medallists celebrate with a selfie. Picture: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Paris delivered a fairytale and emotional swansong for four-time Olympian Glaetzer, who overcame cancer and injury in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The horror 2021 Games prompted Glaetzer to consider retirement, but a chat with his now wife Nikki convinced him to ride on in Paris and hang up the helmet.

“I may have another couple of years left in me but not another four,” he said.

“What we do isn’t easy on the body and I don’t want to put my body too far back for later in life and I am ready for some other challenges as well in life.”

Originally published as Matt Richardson and Matt Glaetzer win medals in the men’s keirin at Paris Olympic Games