Kenny powers his way to gold

The 28-year-old was under pressure to prove he is still top dog on the team, let alone the world, but his greater experience showed as he dominated both heats with something to spare, retaining the title he won in London.

Published : Aug 15, 2016 03:26 IST , Rio de Janeiro

Jason Kenny of Great Britain celebrates after the victory.
Jason Kenny of Great Britain celebrates after the victory.
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Jason Kenny of Great Britain celebrates after the victory.

Jason Kenny showed fellow Briton Callum Skinner a clean set of wheels to defend his track cycling sprint title on Sunday, powering to his fifth Olympic gold medal.

The 28-year-old was under pressure to prove he is still top dog on the team, let alone the world, but his greater experience showed as he dominated both heats with something to spare, retaining the title he won in London.

Kenny, who was a team-mate of Skinner's when Britain won the team sprint earlier in the week, has now won as many gold medals as fellow-cyclist Bradley Wiggins.

Wiggins took his fifth gold and eighth Olympic medal by winning the team pursuit on Friday, and Kenny could match him when he contests the keirin here.

Kenny and Skinner have been sharing a room in the Olympic Village, but when it came to the start, there was no room for sentiment as Kenny put his younger rival firmly in his place.

Russia's Denis Dmitriev beat Australia's Matthew Glaetzer in the race for bronze.

“A Great Britain one-two is amazing,” British track great Chris Hoy, who has six golds, said.

“Jason had so much in the tank, he had phenomenal power.”

Britain has dominated the track cycling programme so far in Rio, winning four of the six events completed so far.

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