Jason Kenny makes history as he pulls off surprise keirin win to become Britain's most decorated Olympian

British cyclist Jason Kenny defied the odds and produced a stunning win in the men’s keirin final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to become the most decorated British Olympian in history.

Jason Kenny celebrate after winning gold in the men's track cycling keirin final

The 33-year-old had admitted earlier this week that he was struggling for form and to recover adequately between events.

But he won a seventh gold medal on Sunday, overtaking Scots cyclist Sir Chris Hoy as he stormed to victory by 0.763 seconds ahead of Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang at the Izu Velodrome.

Wife Laura – GB’s most successful female athlete with five golds – revealed that Kenny had said the night before the race that he “just wanted to go home”.

Speaking to BBC Sport she said: “I was speaking to him last night and he was like, 'I just want to go home'. Then obviously he won – just typical Jason, that.

"The amount of people who came up to me afterwards and were like, 'I'd have counted him out of this' – to be honest, so had I.”

Kenny now has nine Olympic medals and said afterwards that it was a “really special” achievement.

"Seven gold medals is really special, when you look back on the ones you have already got it seems pretty easy.

"Then when you try to get more, you remember how hard it is,” he added.

"I have been disappointed this week, I haven't been as competitive as I wanted to be. But in the keirin you can race hard and ride your luck a little bit."

Discussing his future, he added: "Before today I had all but given up; I was counting my career in days and races as opposed to years, but maybe I have bought myself more time now."

The sport’s governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) branded Kenny’s record-breaking medal “incredible”.

Laura was unable to add to her own medal haul in the omnium when she suffered a heavy crash in the opening scratch race, during Kenny’s warm-ups for the keirin quarter-finals.

She recovered to triumph in the following run-off in the multi-race section but could only manage a sixth-place finish as she chased a third omnium title.

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