photo credits @ British Cycling
British cyclist Matthew Richardson broke the flying 200m world record at the Konya Velodrome in Turkey today, clocking an average speed of 80.5kph (50.02 mph).
The 26-year-old became the first person in history to clock under nine seconds in the event. His time of 8.941 seconds was just over a tenth of a second quicker than the previous benchmark of 9.088 seconds, which was set by Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen at last year’s Paris Olympics.
“I came here to [go sub-nine seconds] and that’s what I did so, it’s a pretty cool feeling to accomplish the one thing that I came out here to do,” Richardson said afterwards
“It was a lot faster [than I’ve previously ridden]. I was basically just a passenger. I gave the bike a bit of direction and it was just steering itself almost. I rode of lot of it outside the sprint lane, so I know there’s a bit more there.”
Speaking before his attempt, the track sprinter said breaking the record would be “one of the biggest things I’ve ever done”.
“People win Olympic medals all the time, people win World Championships all the time, people don’t break world records all the time, and people definitely don’t ride sub nine seconds all the time, because it’s never happened before.
The flying 200m is not a championship medal event, but rather a qualifying effort used to seed riders in the match sprint. Richardson is the first British rider to hold the record, after he swapped nationality from Australia in August 2024.
The Konya Velodrome was opened in 2022, hosting its first international competition this March in a round of the UCI Track Nations Cup, where Richardson appeared to have broken Lavreysen’s record, clocking 9.041 seconds. However, cycling’s governing body, the UCI, later rescinded his record after it was determined that he strayed beneath the blue band.
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