Hoy reckons Kenny has chance of 12 gold medals

Britain’s six-time Olympic gold medallist Jason Kenny, below, could cement his place as the greatest track cyclist of all time by doubling his tally at the next two Games, according to the man whose record he equalled in Rio.

Sir Chris Hoy, whose title as Britain’s most successful Olympian was matched by Kenny adding three golds in Brazil last month, believes the 28-year-old is likely to continue to dominate the sport for years to come.

“He is only 28 now. I was 28 when I won my first Olympic gold medal and he’s got six,” said Hoy.

“In theory he could go on for another two Games and could win the same again at each of those.

“He has potential to win another six gold medals, which is incredible.”

The future for British cycling in general continues to be bright also. “Every time the team perform at that level you think ‘That was brilliant but we can’t expect that next time’ and they go out and do it again,” added Hoy.

“We can maintain our status as the top nation in track cycling for the foreseeable future if we keep the investment and keep focusing on the younger riders coming into the programme. If funding is cut that is when you start to have issues.”

The task of building on the sport’s success from the last two Olympics in particular has already begun, with Hoy one of a number of cyclists – including four-time Olympic gold medallist and Kenny’s fiance Laura Trott – writing to Prime Minister Theresa May to ask for more investment in infrastructure.

“We sent the letter to Theresa May to put up meaningful funding to allow cyclists to ride safely and encourage more people to take up cycling as the biggest concern is safety,” he said. “To ask for 5 percent commitment of the transport budget is really not that much in what it could mean longterm for the country.”