Team GB lose gold medal race to Netherlands as Jason Kenny misses out on history | Other | Sport
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Team GB lost out to the Netherlands in the men’s team sprint final as Jason Kenny missed out on a record seventh Olympic gold. The British trio of Kenny, Jack Carlin, Ryan Owens came into the gold medal race with a huge battle to overcome.
The Netherlands have been the fastest in the men’s team sprint for the past few years with Team GB struggling to keep pace.
Still, Team GB have reigned supreme in the team sprint event over the past three Olympics.
Kenny has been a huge part of their success in the velodrome, winning six gold medals in his career.
And he came into the team sprint event aiming to become the all-time most successful British Olympian of all time.
Both Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy have six gold medals, but the former had a chance of upsetting the odds to clinch his seventh in the team sprint.
To beat the Netherlands team though, Team GB needed to get off to a fast start with Owens leading them out the blocks.
But it was clear early on that the Netherlands weren’t going to be caught despite Great Britain’s best efforts.
Kenny was too far away on the final lap to try and claw back the gap to his opposite number, crossing over the line for the silver medal.
The Netherlands broke the Olympic record again as they walked away with the gold.
While Kenny missed out on breaking the gold-medal record held by himself and Hoy, he is now the joint-most decorated British Olympian of all time.
He now sits on eight medals, joining Sir Bradley Wiggins who won five golds, one silver and two bronzes in his Olympics career.
Speaking after winning silver, Kenny admitted that he’s found it tough coming back trying to repeat his previous success.
“It’s special,” he told BBC.
“Every time you came back, it gets harder.
“You do your first Olympics and you catch up in all the momentum and then to repeat and do it again, it just gets harder to be fair.
He added: “We always focus on the team sprint and, for me, that was always our best chance of getting on the podium so I’m really happy.
“We’ll give it everything in the next few days and see if we can get something out of that.”
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