06 August 2021

Laura and Jason Kenny race ahead in record books – the power couple in numbers

06 August 2021

Laura Kenny will bring an 11th Olympic gold medal for her household back from Tokyo as she and husband Jason cemented their positions as Great Britain’s most successful competitors at the Games.

Madison success with Katie Archibald was Laura’s fifth Olympic title to Jason’s six, and with three silvers between them they top the ranks of their country’s female and male medallists respectively.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the pair’s achievements on the biggest stage.

Laura Kenny

Laura Kenny is Britain’s most successful female Olympian (PA graphic) (PA Graphics)

Having been forced to settle for silver in the women’s team pursuit – the first time she had entered an Olympic event and not won gold – Laura Kenny added to her lead among British women with her fifth gold.

That also made her the first British woman to win gold at three separate Games, after Jade Jones, Charlotte Dujardin and Helen Glover all missed the chance to do so. Kenny and Dujardin are now the only British women to win multiple medals at three straight Games.

Laura Kenny, right, and Charlotte Dujardin have set new records in Tokyo (Steve Parsons/Danny Lawson/PA)

Kenny had won the team pursuit and omnium double at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, with the omnium still to come in Tokyo giving her the chance to move ahead of Dujardin in the overall medal count.

Both women have won their fifth and sixth Olympic medals in Tokyo, Dujardin with bronze in both the individual and team dressage to go with three golds and a silver from the last two Games.

Jason Kenny

Jason Kenny leads the way among British men (PA graphic) (PA Graphics)

Three previous Olympics brought six gold medals and one silver for Jason Kenny to put his name right at the top of Britain’s list of most decorated Olympians with an identical record to Sir Chris Hoy.

His team sprint silver broke the tie and took him alongside another fellow cyclist, Sir Bradley Wiggins, with eight total medals – he has six golds to Wiggins’ five, with the latter adding a silver and two bronze.

Sir Chris Hoy, left, and Jason Kenny were team-mates at Beijing 2008 (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)

Hoy and Kenny rode together in the team sprint to win gold in 2008 and 2012. Kenny also won the individual sprint in London, upgrading his silver behind Hoy four years previously, and went one better at Rio 2016 by adding the keirin for a golden treble.

Jason finished only eighth in the individual sprint in Tokyo and will have one final chance for a ninth medal when he races in the keirin on Sunday, the same day as his wife’s omnium event.

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