Jason Kenny: A publicity-shy sprint king who became Britain’s greatest Olympian

Sir Jason Kenny has been Britain’s silent assassin on a bike for over a decade.

Softly spoken, humble, and laid back – a self-professed “miserable sod” – Kenny is not one to make much noise until he climbs on to his bike.

It is then he is transformed into an explosive machine.

He is Britain’s most successful Olympian with seven gold medals and two silvers collected across four Games, from his debut in Beijing in 2008 to his thrilling final flourish on the last day in Tokyo.

The 33-year-old had openly discussed the idea of carrying on until Paris after his stunning keirin gold in Japan, but has instead accepted a role to become British Cycling’s men’s podium sprint coach.

It is not the first time he has retired – Kenny quietly stepped away after Rio, never announcing his decision until he reversed it a year later – but this time it is surely definitive.

Kenny knew he was off the pace in Tokyo, struggling in both the team and individual sprint events, and his keirin gold was as much a surprise to him as anybody else – his rivals allowed him too much rope as he attacked early, perhaps believing themselves there was no chance he could stay away.

It will now go down as his final race as Kenny steps out of a spotlight he never sought.

The Bolton native excelled in several sports in school, but his first exposure to track cycling came when his uncle booked a session at the Manchester velodrome and had some spare places – inviting Jason and his older brother Craig to make up the numbers.

He had found his calling. Kenny moved swiftly through the ranks, winning a national title in the team sprint aged 17 and then breaking into the Great Britain World Cup squad in 2007.

After making his World Championships debut in 2008, Kenny went