SEVENTH HEAVEN
As Olympics close and Team GB finish 4th, cycling star Jason Kenny becomes our most decorated athlete to put him in...
JASON Kenny rode Britain to seventh heaven yesterday at the close of a glorious Games.
The cyclist dubbed ‘King Kenny’ bagged gold medal number seven of his career to push Team GB’s final tally to a magnificent 65 medals.
Surpassing all expectations, the team matched the haul from London 2012 despite the enormous challenges caused by the pandemic.
On the final day of Tokyo 2020, Kenny and boxer Lauren Price’s golds snatched fourth place for GB, pushing the Russians into fifth.
Kenny’s win means he has now become Britain’s most decorated Olympian. His wife Laura Kenny – Britain’s greatest female Olympian of all time – declared ‘you can be an Olympic champion and a mother’ as the couple return to the UK today with four more medals to add to their record haul. She said they ‘cannot wait’ to see their three-year-old son Albie after two weeks apart.
Last night the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge led the plaudits, tweeting: ‘What an amazing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Team GB. You’ve all shown such strength, passion and determination in challenging circumstances and have done the nation incredibly proud!’
The Prime Minister said the athletes, who had to compete in near-empty stadiums, had been roared on by their family and fans back in the UK.
Boris Johnson said: ‘This team has shown that even in the most difficult circumstances, sport brings people together. You have shown grace in victory and amazing courage in defeat. Thank you Team GB. We are so, so proud of you. Now bring on Paris!’
The British chef de mission Mark England said the team had ‘made history on the back of the most complex and most challenging environments we will ever face’, adding: ‘Against all odds, it is, I think, the greatest achievement in British Olympic history.’
Dame Katherine Grainger, chairman of UK Sport, hailed the British as a ‘team of trailblazers’, with the most successful swimming and boxing teams in a century and medals in the new Olympic sports skateboarding and BMX freestyle.
Team GB won medals across more sports than any other nation. There were 108 athletes stepping on to the podium from 18 different sports.
Only at Rio 2016 has Britain won more medals at a Games on foreign soil. UK Sport set a medal target range of between 45 and 70 medals. And the tally was close to being much higher, as GB came fourth 16 times.
Kenny, 33, added an unprecedented seventh gold to his collection with a stunning final race in the Izu Velodrome. Between them, the Kennys now have 12 golds from three Olympic Games – and joked they could make them into a clock face. Mrs Kenny, 29, said: ‘For people even debating having a child and a career, I think this proves that you can do it. There was a part of me that really did wonder. But I have proved that it is possible to be an Olympic champion and a mother.’
A knighthood and a damehood surely beckon for the couple, who live with Albie in a four-bedroom cottage in Knutsford, Cheshire.
The couple will have at least £5million in sponsorship deals before next year, marketing experts predict.
But while their haul of medals makes them near equals on the track, it is a different story off it, with Mrs Kenny the most in demand with commercial sponsors. Bolton-born Kenny laughed and told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s because she’s just nicer than I am. Also, she’s infinitely better looking as well. She’s a very inspiring character and she’s lovely obviously – that’s why I married her – but I’m a bit boring, so there you go.’
They have previously been appointed CBEs and when asked about the possibility of becoming a knight – given he has more medals than Sir Chris Hoy – Kenny said: ‘We’re really lucky with our accolades. We’ve been to the palace a few times now and each time is special.’
He comfortably won yesterday’s keirin cycling final after making an early move in the race. Sir Chris tweeted: ‘Jason Kenny! Proud of you mate.’
Unfortunately for his wife, she could not add to her medals in the women’s omnium after a mixed day on the track in which she was involved in a ninecyclist pile-up. She came sixth in the women’s omnium. She won her gold last week in the madison race, and both she and her husband got their silvers from the team pursuit.