At the Tokyo Olympics, cycling featured several notable events, with the famous British cycling couple Sir Jason Kenny and Dame Laura Kenny grabbing top honours.
Here are some of the major instances that took place at the 2020 Games:
Great Britain and the Netherlands at the top
(L-R) Matthew Walls and Ethan Hayter of Great Britain in action. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Great Britain cyclists were all in form as the contingent topped the medal tally with 12 medals. The tally included six gold medals, the most among all the participants. The team also won four silver and two bronze medals. Four of Britain’s 12 medals were won in team events like Madison, Team Pursuit, and Team Sprint. Also, the British men brought more medals (eight) than the British women, who managed to succeed in four events.
Jason Kenny, Katie Archibald, and Laura Kenny were the most successful British medallists, with each of them bagging two medals, individual or team. Tom Pidcock won the only medal (gold) for Great Britain in the mountain biking event at the Tokyo Games.
However, Great Britain failed to win a medal in the road cycling event, the first time this had happened since 2004.
However, the team’s best performances came in the men’s track cycling and the BMX events, where it clinched a total of eight medals.
Meanwhile, despite winning the same number of total medals, the Netherlands missed out on the top spot in the medals tally due to fewer gold medals than Great Britain (five). The Dutch team also won three silver and four bronze medals, with the most coming from road cycling and men’s track cycling.
The list of the most successful Dutch cyclists featured Harrie Lavreysen (three medals—two individual and a team medal), Jeffrey Hoogland (two medals—one individual and one with the team), and Annemiek van Vleuten (two medals—one individual and one with the team). Mountain biking was the only event to not feature a medal-winning Dutch cyclist.
Jason Kenny: Best Male Cyclist at the Olympics
With his seventh gold medal in the men’s keirin event, Jason Kenny became the most successful cyclist in the history of the Olympics. He also contributed to Great Britain’s silver medal-winning campaign in the men’s team sprint event.
Across the four editions of the Olympics, between 2008 and 2020, Kenny never went medal-less. The track cycling specialist has seven gold and two silver medals to his name in the history of the Olympics.
Kenny retired from the sport in February 2022. However, he will be there in Paris, not as a competitor but as a guide. He will assist the Great Britain Cycling team as a podium men’s sprint coach.
Laura Kenny: Best Female Cyclist at the Olympics
Laura Kenny became the most successful female cyclist in the history of the Olympics at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. She won two medals, one in the Madison event (gold) and the other in the team pursuit event (silver).
Kenny represented Great Britain in three Olympic editions—2012 London, 2016 Rio, and 2020 Tokyo—and won five gold medals and a silver medal in track and road cycling disciplines.
Britain’s most successful athlete, Kenny, retired from the sport in March 2024, at the age of 32.
Switzerland’s Clean Sweep in the Women’s Mountain Biking Event
Switzerland won all three medals in the women’s mountain biking category at the Tokyo Olympics. The Swiss trio of Jolanda Neff (gold), Sina Frei (silver), and Linda Indergand (bronze) didn’t leave anything to win for the other competitors in the category.
While in the men’s event, Mathias Flückiger won a silver medal. Overall, Switzerland won four out of six medals in the mountain biking event in Tokyo.
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