Jason Kenny becomes most decorated GB Olympian in history
He took his 9th medal in the men's keirin final at Tokyo
Last updated 24th Feb 2022
Laura Kenny said it was "just typical'' of her husband Jason to pull off a win in the men's keirin final at Tokyo and become the most decorated British Olympian in history.
Jason had complained of being out of form during the men's sprint earlier this week but on Sunday rode away from the field to win by a gap of just 0.763 seconds from Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia.
The triumph gave him a seventh Olympic gold medal, moving him one ahead of former British cycling great Chris Hoy.
Laura, Great Britain's most successful female athlete with five golds, said even she was not sure Jason could win gold at four consecutive Games.
"The amount of people who came up to me afterwards and were like 'I'd have counted him out of this' - and to be honest, so had I!'' she told BBC Sport.
"I was speaking to him last night and he was like, 'I just want to go home'. Then obviously he won - just typical Jason, that.''
The global body for the sport, Union Cycliste Internationale, tweeted the achievement was "incredible'' after the triumph.
Jason, who now has nine Olympic medals, described the achievement as really special''.
"Seven gold medals is really special, when you look back on the ones you have already got it seems pretty easy,'' he said.
"Then when you try and get more, you remember how hard it is.''
He could have been forgiven for taking his eye off the ball in the event, with his warm-ups for the quarter-finals earlier in the day interrupted when Laura crashed heavily in the opening scratch race of the women's omnium.
She recovered to win the following run-off in the multi-race event, but eventually finished outside the podium places in sixth.
There was also success for boxer Lauren Price, who took home gold with victory in the women's middleweight final against China's Li Qian.
Price had been stretched to her limit last time out against Nouchka Fontijn, edging out her Dutch rival on a wafer-thin split decision, but there was no such drama in Sunday's final.
The 27-year-old from Wales was able to use her superior lateral movement to confound Li, getting in and out of range at will to control the tempo throughout to claim a unanimous points win.
Price's win adds to an impressive sporting resume. She has played international football for Wales, represented the country at different age levels in netball and taekwondo, and won worl, European and British titles in kickboxing.
Kellie Harrington earlier claimed gold for Ireland in the women's lightweight category after a unanimous decision victory over Brazil's Beatriz Ferreira in a hard-fought final at the Kokugikan Arena.
The 31-year-old's triumph marked the first time Ireland have won two gold medals in two different sports at the same Olympics, with rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan also triumphing in the men's lightweight double sculls.