Tokyo Olympics: Jason Kenny becomes GB’s most successful Olympian with keirin gold
Jason Kenny becomes Great Britain’s most successful Olympian of all time as he successfully defends his men’s keirin title at Tokyo…
Jason Kenny became the first British athlete to win seven Olympic gold medals as he defended his men’s keirin title in spectacular fashion in Tokyo.
The 33-year-old stunned the field as he sprinted clear with three laps remaining to claim victory.
It is a ninth Olympic medal for Kenny, who won silver in the team sprint to become GB’s most decorated Olympian earlier this week at the Izu Velodrome.
His tally of seven golds is one more than former team-mate Chris Hoy.
The 2016 champion caught his five rivals by surprise with a long-range attack and held on to finish 0.763 seconds clear of Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang with the Netherlands’ reigning world champion Harrie Lavreysen taking bronze.
Lavreysen made it three medals in Tokyo but had been aiming to emulate Kenny’s achievement of five years ago by winning all three men’s sprint events.
Kenny progressed from a semi-final that also included compatriot and individual sprint bronze medallist Jack Carlin, but the 24-year-old failed to qualify for the final after finishing fourth.
Contesting the race to decide the minor positions, Carlin finished second to claim an eighth-placed overall finish.
More to follow.
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