Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer win silver and bronze in keirin

Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer have delivered a spectacular keirin silver medal and bronze medal double for Australia on the final day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Richardson employed patient tactics in the final, electing to wait on the wheel and surge of race favourite Harrie Lavreysen (NED).

When that move went, so did the Western Australian, and for a moment, it looked as if the Dutchman's triple gold medal-winning party was about to spoilt.

But the current king of track sprinting held Richardson at bay around the final bend.

Behind the two front runners chaos struck in the fight for the bronze medal, with Shinji Nakano (JPN), Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom (MAS) and Jack Carlin (GBR) all smashing into the boards of Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines as they exited the final corner.

The benefactor? Matthew Glaetzer, who had dropped just off the wheel of the chasing trio enough to avoid the carnage and roll over the line in Steven Bradbury-esque fashion to win his first individual Olympic medal at his fourth and final Games.

Sometimes luck does come to those who wait.

For Richardson, the keirin silver ticks off a collection of a medal from every event he has raced in Paris.

The 25-year-old said he entered the final full of confidence after sailing through the earlier rounds with three out of four race wins.

"I left it all out on the track. I wasn’t nervous at all, that happened to be the least amount of nerves in a race, ever, and it happened to be in an Olympic keirin final," Richardson said.

"For a moment down the back straight I thought I might get him but he was smart with the lines he was taking into the last corner to keep me wide and then ducked down at the last minute.

"I gave it my absolute all. I pushed Harrie all the way to the line.

"We did the fastest keirin we've ever done in that final with a 9.397 final lap (averaging 76.620km/h). 

"That would have out-qualified 90 per cent of the field on sprint day, so it just showed where the level was at and how hard we pushed each other.

"It’s not a case of 'Harrie being better, so we’re satisfied with medals'; it’s more 'we’re Olympic medallists and it’s a great feat'.

"Harrie winning doesn’t make me grateful to get silver, I race for the win, but this is better than fourth place.

"And the only thing better than being on the podium is being on the podium with your teammate."

Glaetzer can now sign off from his four-time Olympian career at peace after achieving the goal that had brought him back from the brink of retirement following a disappointing Tokyo Olympics.

"Look, I’ve had a lot of bad luck in my career, geez it’s good to finish on some good luck," Glaetzer said.

"It’s not all luck, I’m pretty blessed, I was just grateful I stayed upright in that final corner. They were bumping me and then I saw them absolutely all hit the deck and was just trying to survive at that point and not crash into them, and all of a sudden I saw I was crossing the line for bronze and couldn’t believe it.

"I felt like a bit of a Steve Bradbury but it’s amazing to finish with an Olympic individual medal, this is something really special, and I’m feeling very blessed right now.

"I always get an amazing sense of relief at the final event of any competition, there’s always tension all the way through racing and to know that’s my final Olympic race and to finish on a good note is the best way I could have hoped to finish.

“I know that my team is going to push into the LA 2028 Olympic cycle with a lot of confidence knowing that they can improve as well on the results that we’ve got here. I’m very excited to see what they can do in the future. I’ll be still riding with them for a few years but I’ll let them attack LA and be looking forward to watching or commentating."

Feature picture: Getty Images