Australia's track cycling defector Matthew Richardson has avoided a two-year ban from competition after his acrimonious decision to race for Great Britain.
Richardson and the British and world cycling hierarchy kept secret his planned defection from Australia until after he won three medals in the green and gold at the Paris Olympics.
Post-Olympics, but before before he announced he was leaving to race for Great Britain, Richardson asked to take Australian equipment including a custom bike, cockpit and Olympic race suit.
"This represented an unacceptable risk to AusCycling's intellectual property," AusCycling said in a statement on Monday.
An AusCycling review into Richardson's defection found the 25-year-old "acted in a way which conflicted with the values of AusCycling, the Australian national team and the broader cycling community".
The Australian review found Richardson requested world cycling's body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), delay disclosing his nationality change until after the Olympics — a request supported by British Cycling.
AusCycling investigated imposing on Richardson a two-year ban from international racing under non-competition clauses in his athlete membership agreement.
"But such a ban was deemed legally unenforceable. This clause will be reviewed for future athlete agreements," the AusCycling statement said.
The sport's governing body in Australia announced sanctions, including that Richardson would never be able to rejoin the Australian cycling team.
He is also barred from using any resources linked with the Australian cycling team and its partners and has been deemed ineligible for any AusCycling-related awards, effective immediately.
"These decisions underscore AusCycling's adherence to the values of the Australian national team and our broader commitment to the principle of Win Well," AusCycling executive general manager of performance Jesse Korf said in a statement.
Loading..."Integrity, respect and trust are foundational to our team and organisation and we remain focused on fostering an environment that upholds these standards."
Richardson was born in Maidstone, England, and moved to Australia at the age of nine.
A week after the closing ceremony of the Paris Games — where Richardson won silver medals in the individual sprint and men's keirin and a bronze in the team sprint — he stunned Australia by announcing his defection.
A UCI ban prevented Richardson from racing for Great Britain at last month's track world championships. He remains unable to race for the Brits until early next year.