Jason GB call-up keeps the golden couple on track

JASON and Laura Kenny are set to be named in the Great Britain Olympic cycling squad despite Laura revealing only last week that Jason may choose to retire before Tokyo 2020. As Sportsmail revealed last month, the inclusion of Britain’s golden couple in the first post-Rio squad was under review with Laura now expecting their first child and Jason’s future shrouded in uncertainty. But a decision has been made to keep them on as part of a squad reduced in numbers because of a cut to British Cycling’s funding, with coaches and management hopeful that Jason will shelve any thoughts of quitting and instead try to become the country’s most successful Olympian. Right now he is joint top with Sir Chris Hoy with six Olympic gold medals after his stunning performances in the Rio velodrome last summer. British Cycling will name their new squad today, with Laura Kenny perhaps less of a surprise because of her clear desire to compete in Tokyo. She is already Pregnant: Kenny Great Britain’s most successful female Olympian with four golds, but it also helps that, because the funding is means tested, she does not receive any financial support from British Cycling. But earlier this month Laura explained why Jason has hardly been seen at the national cycling centre in Manchester since last summer’s Olympic Games. ‘He’s going to give himself a bit of time,’ she told the BBC. ‘He’s having six months to decide whether to carry on or to retire. As athletes you always want to go to the next one. ‘You become this self-absorbed person and everything is just about you, but there are bigger things in life than that.’ In November Jason said: ‘Tokyo 2020 is such a long way away. It takes 100 per cent commitment, so if I decide to go for it, I have got to get my head down for four years and really go for it.’