IZU, Japan (Reuters) – Jason Kenny’s hold on the Olympic sprint title is over after the British track cycling great was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Dutch flier Harrie Lavreysen on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Kenny had battled his way through to the last eight after he needed a repechage win in the previous round, but was no match for world champion Lavreysen who powered past him for comfortable wins in both races.
Kenny, who won three gold medals in Rio, became Britain’s most decorated Olympian when he took a silver behind the Dutch in the team sprint earlier this week.
That moved him level with fellow cyclist Bradley Wiggins in the overall British all-time medals tally, but Kenny has one more gold to his name than his former team mate.
He has one more chance in the men’s keirin to move past the British record of six Olympic golds he shares with former team mate Chris Hoy.
The sprint competition concludes on Saturday when Lavreysen will be the favourite to win gold, although his team mate Jeffrey Hoogland and Britain’s Jack Carlin looked good as they also moved through to the semi-finals.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
