Rio de Janeiro: Jason Kenny celebrated his third gold medal of the Rio Olympics with a kiss from his fiancee. Or maybe Laura Trott was simply celebrating her second.
Either way, British Cycling’s power couple capped another remarkable Summer Games with Kenny’s gold in the keirin and Trott’s gold in the omnium Tuesday night. The medals gave their nation six golds and 11 overall during the track cycling program at the Olympic velodrome.
“It’s amazing, obviously. I’m really happy for Laura,” Kenny said.
Trott and Kenny with their latest gold medals.
Kenny now has six Olympic gold medals, matching retired cyclist Chris Hoy’s British record, while Trott earned the fourth of her career to set a record among British women.
“I’m so proud at what I achieved,” she said. “I always thought how special London was. I went there without any expectations, so to win two golds was just incredible, and then I thought, ‘How on earth am I going to top that?’ We believed in ourselves, and in our team. It just started to snowball.”
Kristina Vogel of Germany at least slowed Britain’s snowball Tuesday, beating Katy Marchant in the individual sprint semifinals and topping Becky James in the finals. James settled for silver, and Marchant came back to beat Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands for bronze.
“It’s not about beating the Brits,” Vogel said. “Just to win an Olympic title is amazing.”
Matthijs Buchli of the Netherlands took silver in the keirin and Azizulhasni Awang took bronze, while Sarah Hammer of the United States took omnium silver and Belgium’s Jolien D’Hoore took bronze.
Not everything went well for Britain, though.
Callum Skinner was caught out in his heat in the keirin and forced to go to a last-chance repechage. He roared to a victory and a spot in the semifinals, only to find out moments later he had been relegated for deviating from his line, eliminating him from competition.
The first medal decided Tuesday night was in the women’s omnium, and it was essentially a done deal even before the final race in the six-event decathlon of cycling.
Trott had three victories and two second-place finishes in the first five events to build a big lead heading into the points race. She just had to watch out for Hammer and D’Hoore to make sure they didn’t gain laps on her to win her fourth career Olympic gold medal.
The bigger intrigue was who would take silver.
Hammer and D’Hoore were tied entering the points race, and only a point separated them for most of the 100-lap event. But Hammer won the final sprint to earn her second-straight omnium silver medal.
“Jolien is an amazing racer. That’s her specialty ... the points races,” Hammer said. “I knew that it was going to be a big ask to try to match her in the sprints.”
Vogel proved to be one of the only riders to solve the British puzzle.
First, the world sprint bronze medalist knocked off Marchant in the semifinals, then she swept past James in the best-of-three event to win Germany’s first cycling gold medal of the Rio Games.
Vogel had a problem with her saddle at the start of the race, causing a brief delay. The speed that she ultimately carried into the finish line sent the saddle clattering across the track, forcing Vogel to sit on her top tube as she rolled around for a victory lap.
She stopped on the front stretch, laid down on the track and held back the tears.
Trott couldn’t help but get teary-eyed when she walked onto the front stretch later to welcome her soon-to-be husband. Kenny planted a kiss on her as cameras clicked around them.
His victory in the keirin was his most tense of the Rio Games.
The six-rider sprint was restarted twice when riders overtook the pacing bike, and Kenny and Awang were at fault the first time. Judges reviewed video for several minutes, and some thought they would be disqualified although they were ultimately granted a full-field restart.
“Usually when they shoot the gun it means someone is disqualified,” Kenny said, “and it was tight.”
Once the race finally began, Kenny slotted in behind Joachim Eilers and Damian Zielinski entering the final lap. He sprinted to the outside, overtook the leaders down the back straightaway, and still had the power in his legs after two previous gold medals to win one more.
“I think ultimately it was the right decision to restart the race,” Kenny said. “It’s a bit vague, that kind of rule. Ultimately the race would have looked very similar either way.”
