Tokyo 2020 - ‘I thought, it’s now or never’ - Jason Kenny reacts to becoming Olympic history-maker for GB

Updated 08/08/2021 at 06:47 GMT

Jason Kenny made history at Tokyo 2020 as he won his seventh gold and ninth Olympic medal overall to become Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian of all-time. “I’m absolutely buzzing, well happy with that," Kenny said after dominating the keirin final. You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+.

‘I felt like I was cooked!’ – Kenny after historic gold

Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian of all-time Jason Kenny won gold at the Izu Velodrome in electric fashion as he blitzed his opponents, securing medal number nine.

Speaking to Eurosport, Kenny said: “It was just opportunistic [the race],I felt like I had a bit of a target on my back,

“The last thing we said, if I get a chance, just disappear into the distance,” and that’s exactly what the seven-time Olympic gold medallist did.

Tokyo 2020

‘Absolutely remarkable’ – Jason Kenny storms to historic keirin gold

00:00:51

24/02/2022 at 08:59

Kenny sped clear with three laps to go, clinging onto his monstrous lead to claim Team GB’s 21st gold medal of the Games.

‘Absolutely remarkable’ – Jason Kenny storms to historic keirin gold

“I think Matty in two was looking a bit leggy, I followed him in the semi-final, he worked really hard for that and there wasn’t a lot of recovery,

I’ll be honest it got to the point whereI didn't really want to go, but I thought it’s now or never really!

On what it feels like to be Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian, Kenny said: “Yeah, absolutely buzzing, well happy with that.

IZU, JAPAN - AUGUST 08: Jason Kenny of Team Great Britain celebrates winning the gold medal while holding the flag of his country during the Men's Keirin final, 1/6th place of the track cycling on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodro

Image credit: Eurosport

Obviously, it seemed a long way off, yesterday and the day before I felt like I was cooked, I felt like I'd run my course, but now I feel reborn again!

Before Kenny’s took to the track, his wife Laura Kenny competed in the omnium elimination race where she came off her bike uninjured.

Kenny seemed relaxed even after the incident, and looked the favourite going into the race.

He said: “I was in a fortunate position where I had nothing to lose really.

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“We’ve got the world champion, we had Matty in there for the Aussies, who’s obviously desperate to do well and one of the favourites,

“But coming eighth in the sprint and hacking through the reps and stuff, by the time I got to the final, realistically we would have probably put Jack in if we could put anyone in with a chance of winning, so at that point I had nothing to lose and went into it as the underdog.”

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Watch every unmissable moment live from Tokyo 2020 across Eurosport, Eurosport app and discovery+. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now.

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