Jason Kenny proved himself the equal of illustrious teammate, Sir Chris Hoy, by winning the Olympic title in the men’s sprint.
The 24-year-old from Bolton took gold in the most convincing style, beating France’s world champion, Gregory Bauge, 2-0 in a best-of-three final.
Kenny had been narrowly defeated by the Frenchman at the world championships in April, but arrived at the Olympics at the top of his game to win both heats of the final emphatically.
The Briton led out the second heat, refusing to react to Bauge’s feints, and taking on the sprint, showing incredible leg speed in the back straight and holding off a determined final charge from the Frenchman in the lunge for the line.
Earlier, Kenny had comfortably beaten Nisjane Phillips from Trinidad and Tobago, winning both heats. The Trinidadian lost to Shane Perkins (Australia) in the race for bronze.
Victoria Pendleton continued her progress towards the semi-final of the women’s sprint by easily defeating Olga Panarina of Belarus.
Pendleton won both heats, simply powering past her rival on the final lap of heat two before easing off some distance from the finish line to conserve energy.
Laura Trott finished the first day of competition in the women’s ominium in first place, after winning two of the three disciplines.
She won the 250 metre flying lap time trial and elimination race, and finished third in the points race.
Medals will be decided tomorrow for both Trott and Pendleton as the final three disciplines of the women’s omnium and the semi-final and final of the women’s sprint unfold.
Sir Chris Hoy will return to the track at 10am to begin his campaign for the sixth gold medal of his career by winning the men’s keirin.
