Matthew Richardson‘s time of 9.041 for the flying 200 metres in sprint qualifying at the Konya Track Nations Cup will not be ratified by the UCI as a new world record.
The UCI issued an ‘official communication’ declaring: ‘Rider # 113 Mathew (sic) RICHARDSON (GBR) recorded a time of 9.041 in the 200m, which was originally acknowledged as a new UCI World Record.
‘After review of the video footage, the world record cannot be confirmed by the UCI due to the last meters of the 200m distance being ridden off the track (on the safety zone).’
The decision appears to relate to UCI regulation 3.2.008, which states: ‘The blue band does not form part of the racing surface of the track.’
This regulation goes on to say: ‘If a rider rides on the blue band voluntarily, and if, in doing so, it is considered that the rider has obtained an advantage, the latter will be relegated or disqualified depending on the seriousness of the fault.’ However, Richardson’s position in the competition – which he went on to win – has not been affected.
The regulations also distinguish between the ‘blue band’ and the ‘safety zone’, defined in 3.6.072 as the area ‘immediately inside the blue band’ – but therefore, not the blue band itself. So Richardson must have ridden quite some way off line, if he was found to have strayed beyond the ‘blue band’ into the ‘safety zone’.
The results sheet generated immediately after the qualifying session stated ‘WR’; and the UCI’s X account heralded the British rider’s achievement. The X post has been deleted; but the results sheet is still on the Tissot Timing website (as I write this – Ed).
His time would have beaten the 9.088 set by Harrie Lavreysen at the Paris Olympics last August; and followed the new women’s record set yesterday by Yuan Liying at the same event.
There had been speculation yesterday that a record attempt might be in the works, as Richardson was a late withdrawal from the men’s keirin competition. The initial start lists had placed him in the first heat, but his place was taken by Harry Radford. Was it an injury… or was he saving his energy?
The city of Konya is situated in central Turkey, on the edge of the central Anatolian plateau, at an altitude just over 1000 metres. That’s enough to make a difference, but well short of noted high-altitude tracks like Mexico’s Aguascalientes (1887m), or the various tracks above 2500m in Bolivia.
The British-born Richardson, who moved to Australia as a child and represented his adopted nation until the Paris Olympics, would have had the curious distinction of holding the flying 200 national record for two different nations – and indeed, two different continents.
We believe there were also new national records for Nick Wammes; Zhiwei Li, by just 0.001; Fabio del Medico; Martin Čechman, beating a mark that had stood since 2013; Bohdan Danylchuk; and India’s David Beckham – although honestly, definitive lists of previous records aren’t easy to find for all national federations.
A number of leading sprinters with PBs in the very low 9s – including Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland and Mikhail Yakovlev – are not present in Konya. But they may be tempted by a trip to Türkiye next February, when the UEC’s European Championships are to be held on the same track.