Matthew Thomas Walls (born 20 April 1998) is a British

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and track cyclist, who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

Career

Walls won the gold medal in the men's omnium event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. Walls was involved in an accident during the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

when his bike was catapulted over the barriers and into the spectators.

Career achievements

Major results

Road

;2016 : 1st Jersey green

Points classification,

Junior Tour of Wales The Junior Tour of Wales is an annual cycle race for junior male riders, held around Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. First held in 1981, the race is the final round of the British Cycling Junior Road Series – and as such attracts the best jun ...

;2018 :

Flèche du Sud The Flèche du Sud, is a road bicycle race held annually in Luxembourg. It is currently organised as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport dis ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Stage 3 Paris–Arras Tour ;2019 : 1st Stage 2

Giro Ciclistico d'Italia Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23, also known as Baby Giro, Girobio or Giro Ciclistico d'Italia, is an Italian road bicycle racing amateur stage race created in 1970. Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23 is the most important race on Italy's U23 calendar, ...

: 2nd Overall Paris–Arras Tour ::1st Stage 3 : 2nd

Arno Wallaard Memorial Arno Wallaard Memorial is a single-day bicycle road race held annually in the Dutch region of Alblasserwaard: prior to 2007, the race was called "Omloop Alblasserwaard". Since 2009, it is organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI ...

: 3rd Entre Brenne et Montmorillonnais : 10th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Championships ;2021 : 1st Gran Piemonte : 1st Stage 4

Tour of Norway The Tour of Norway is a road bicycle race held annually in Norway. It is considered as a successor to the stage race Ringerike GP, which is now a one-day race. It was started in 2011 as a result of the heightened interest in cycling in Norway, m ...

Track

;2016 : UEC European Junior Championships ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Team pursuit ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Madison (with

Rhys Britton Rhys Britton (born 13 May 1999) is a British and Welsh road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . Career He represented Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the men's road race. Britton became ...

) : UCI World Junior Championships ::2nd Silver medal uci

Points race ::3rd Bronze medal uci

Team pursuit : 2nd Madison, National Championships (with Matt Bostock) ;2017 : 1st European champion jersey 2016

Team pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Championships : 1st Six Days of Berlin Under-23 (with

Ethan Hayter Ethan Edward Hayter (born 18 September 1998) is a British racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Hayter started riding at Herne Hill Velodrome in 2012, aged 13. He raced for the VC Londres cycling club from 2012 to 2016, ...

) : National Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Madison (with

) ::1st

Omnium ::2nd

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

;2018 : 1st European champion jersey 2016

Elimination race, UEC European Championships : 1st

Omnium An omnium (from Latin '' Omni'': of all, belonging to all) is a multiple race event in track cycling. Historically the omnium has had a variety of formats. In recent years, road racing has also adopted the term to describe multi-day races that fe ...

, UCI World Cup,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Madison (with

) ::1st

Scratch ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Team pursuit : National Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Omnium ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

::3rd Scratch ;2019 : UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Madison (with Fred Wright) ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Omnium : National Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Omnium ::2nd Points race ::2nd

;2020 : UEC European Championships ::1st European champion jersey 2016

Elimination race ::1st European champion jersey 2016

: 3rd

UCI World Championships The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

;2021 :

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

::1st

::2nd

Madison (with

)

Honours and awards

Walls was awarded the

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

on 8 September 2021. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to cycling.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walls, Matthew 1998 births Living people British male cyclists English male cyclists Sportspeople from Oldham English track cyclists Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in cycling English Olympic medallists Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire