Olympics: Jason Kenny wins gold in men’s Keirin by flying out of the field early

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Flying out of the field early, Great Britain's Jason Kenny took control of his own destiny to win the men’s Keirin at the Tokyo Olympic Games, making it the third Olympics in a row he has taken gold in the discipline. 

Kenny didn’t wait for the final sprint, sensing an opportunity when he had a gap at the front with four laps to go and as the rider second in line, Australia's Matthew Glaetzer, was looking behind. 

Once he let fly there was no hope for the rest of the field, which he comfortably held off to the line.

“It is a bit of shock I think, I really wanted to cross the finish line," said Kenny after he took his seventh gold medal at the Olympic Games. 

"I was hoping to kind of get stuck in, and hopefully come away with some silverware. To win at the corner on my own like that is absolutely buzzing.”

Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) led the charge from the rest of the field to take silver.

“I came here to execute a plan, I did my best. In the quarterfinals and semifinals I did really well. I planned to do the same thing in the final, but it is just bad luck," said Awang. 

"I got drawn to the back and had strong guys at the front, so I couldn’t jump straight into the front and just waste my energy. I wanted to go for the win, and Jason [Kenny] was fully committed at the front. There was a big gap and we just came late.”

Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) took third, adding another medal to his already substantial haul after wins in the Team Sprint and individual Sprint. 

Jair Tjon En Fa from the small South American nation of Suriname was fourth, with Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer fifth and Maximilian Levy (Germany) sixth.

On the podium, Kenny's fellow medallists recognised the scale of his achievement, lifting the rider from Great Britain into the air after he was presented with his seventh gold medal. 

Kenny had already taken silver in the Team Sprint at the Izu Velodrome in Tokyo but was disappointed to have fallen out of the running for the medals in the individual Sprint, an event where he had won gold at both Rio and London.

“I just wasn't quick enough to be competitive at all,” said Kenny of the Sprint. 

“That was really hard to take, because we work really hard. You don't really know what kind of form you have until you get here, because obviously we taper and we don't see the best until the last minute.

“But you just keep scrapping away, and I am absolutely buzzing to get something out of chaos.”

Early rounds

The early rounds of the men’s Keirin produced some thrilling racing with several big-names forced to qualify via the repechages to make it through to Sunday’s finals. 

Jason Kenny (Great Britain), Matthew Glaetzer (Australia) and Matthijs Buchli (Netherlands) all had to come back via a second race after finishing out of the top two places in their hotly contested heats.    

Jack Carlin (Great Britain), Callum Saunders (New Zealand) and Matt Richardson (Australia) made it through facing some serious competition, while Japan’s expert Keirin riders Yudai Nitta and Yuta Wakimoto, cheered on by the local crowd in the Izu velodrome, also qualified for day 2. 

Mohd Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia also went through too, no doubt adding some spice to the finals, while Rayan Helal (France) and the experienced Maximilian Levy (Germany) also qualified. 

Suriname’s Jair Tjon En Fa sprinted with confidence and qualified via the repechage, giving the small South American nation a shot at a place in the finals and perhaps even a medal.

Tjon En Fa, like Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago, has developed with the help of the UCI’s World Cycling Centre track programme.

Paul sailed through the quarterfinals with a huge solo win over Carlin, along with Kevin Quintero (Colombia) and Yuta Wakimoto (Japan).

In the semifinal, however, Paul was disqualified for passing on the blue band. Carlin, Trinidad & Tobago's Kwesi Browne, Quintero, Wakimoto and Helal missed the medal final and fought for 7th through 11th place.