MR & MISSES
Invincible era over but Laura and Jason will always be Team GB’s golden couple
FOR Mr and Mrs Silver, it may be the end of a golden era, and they were both well beaten in their gold medal races.
But instead of lamenting a day when the wheels fell off for Great Britain’s blazing saddles, let’s acknowledge that it took exceptional feats to deny Jason and Laura Kenny another visit to the Olympic podium summit.
As Laura tasted defeat for the first time at the Games in the women’s team pursuit, she warned: “It’s not over until it’s over. We’ve got two more events in women’s endurance. Don’t count us out just yet.”
And for husband Jason, who became Britain’s mostdecorated Olympian by adding a second silver medal to his six golds, defeat was no shame against three flying Dutchmen in the men’s team sprint final.
In many ways, it did not just feel as if the curtain was falling on Team GB’s cyclists at the Izu velodrome. In the chaos of records tumbling, crashes, protests and an unexpected farewell, it seemed like the roof was caving in.
Ed Clancy’s retirement ushered in the end of Britain’s reign as team pursuit kings, then Laura Kenny’s 100 percent Olympic record was finally punctured by Germany’s quartet posting a mind-blowing world record of 4mins 4.242secs.
And when his alliance with Ryan Owens and Jack Carlin was torpedoed by the Netherlands, in an Olympic record 41.369, Jason Kenny’s unbeaten record in Olympic team sprint duels going back to Beijing was finally broken.
But there is no need to take down the bunting, no need for inquests, no need for recrimination.
The Britons dished it out to the rest of the world in Beijing, London and Rio. Now they have to be humble enough to take it.
Laura Kenny is the British woman to win at least five medals at the
Olympic Games, after dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin (six), rower Dame Katherine Grainger (five) and tennis player Kitty Godfree (five).
British celebrations for the world record they set in the first round had been cut short when Katie Archibald crashed into Neah Evans after the finish, but both insisted the scars played no part in their final demolition.
Looking glum, Kenny said: “We knew the Germans would go fast – we just didn’t expect it to be that fast.
“They were phenomenal, you can’t take anything away from them. That’s going to be a
record that stands for a long time. As an athlete, you want to win everything and I don’t think it’s any harder for me than it is for anyone else taking silver.
“We set our hearts on gold, we wanted to win gold, so yeah we are going to feel disappointed. But I glimpsed at my phone and so many people are saying, ‘You should be really proud of silver’.And I am really proud of silver. I just feel a bit disappointed.”
Jason Kenny was also philosophical about his fate, saying: “We did the same thing we always do – we came here and emptied the tanks. We pretty much nailed it in the first round and then we rolled the dice and went after the win.
“It didn’t go our way but they were better than us, simple as that. We knew we had to get better in the past few years, we have improved a lot and made a reasonable step but it was not enough. “In the past, we’ve always been on the right side of the times it takes to win – this time we were on the wrong side of it, but we still won two silvers. “We just got run over today.”