Jason Kenny proved he was the boss in the British team, beating room-mate Callum Skinner to retain his Olympic cycling men’s sprint title in Rio on Sunday.
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The world champion won the first two of the three-race head-to-head against the 23-year-old who helped him clinch a team gold in the team sprint, alongside Phillip Hindes.
Kenny has now won as many gold medals for Britain as fellow cyclist Bradley Wiggins and could take his tally to six when he contests his final event, the keirin, on Tuesday.
Hindes, Kenny and the legendary Sir Chris Hoy won the gold four years ago in London in a time of 42.600, while Mitchell, Dawkins and Simon van Velthooven finished fifth.
Britain’s trio of Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner clocked 42.562 seconds in qualifying, seeking to hold onto the gold medal Britain has won in the event at the last two Olympics.
“My confidence was knocked a bit by the way I rode in the semis, but it woke me up a bit”.
“I enjoyed it, it was a bit lonely at London 2012 with it only just being one per nation and being on my own in the finals”.
Tonight’s final brings the country’s medal haul to six at the velodrome, four of those gold.
Denis Dmitriev added to Russia’s count by defeating Matthew Glaetzer for the bronze medal.
And they were always doomed really because defending Olympic champion Kenny, fast establishing himself as one of the all-time great British cyclists, said he prepared for the final by pretending he was racing against himself.
Hoy, who win silver at the Sydney Games before collecting a gold at Athens 2004, three golds in Beijing in 2008 and two at London 2012 could be seen applauding following his compatriots’ triumph. We left it on the track, and unbelievably it was enough to win the gold.
Great Britain has got off to a flying start at the velodrome after scooping gold in the men’s team sprint at the Rio Olympics. We didn’t know how many points we needed because we weren’t concentrating on that.
“It’s a flattering comparison but I’m just out there to do my best and try to make a name for myself”, said Skinner, who led the team home.
Great Britain have been dominant in indoor cycling events in Rio. “To come away with an Olympic medal is a fantastic achievement and we’re really proud of it”.
Jason Kenny said afterwards: “It was genuinely a surprise”.
But he had struggled to keep pace with Hindes and Kenny and Britain were sixth at March’s Track World Championships in London.
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Few teams personify that hoary old saw about the fleeting nature of form compared to the permanence of class than the British men’s track cycling sprint team.
