Jason Kenny: Great Britain's most successful Olympian retires

Jason Kenny, Great Britain's most successful Olympian of all time, has retired to take up a coaching job with British Cycling.

The 33-year-old won seven gold medals and two silvers between 2008 and 2021.

«A massive part of me would love to continue and try to get to Paris and I'm a little bit sad in a way to not do that,» he told BBC Breakfast.

«The opportunity at British Cycling to be a coach might not be there in three years. I thought I'd take it now.»

Kenny, who was knighted in the New Year Honours list, won team sprint gold in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016, individual sprint in 2012 and 2016 and the keirin in 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

«That keirin in Tokyo was special to me,» he said. «It was an amazing race. If you could pick one to end on, that would always be. That did play a small part in it. That will be my last ever race, to finish on something so special on the last day of the Olympics.»

That win made him the most successful cyclist in Olympic history from any country. He also won silver in sprint in 2008 and team sprint last year.

His wife, Laura Kenny, 29, who was also made a Dame in the New Year Honours, is the joint most decorated female athlete for Team GB, with five golds and one silver medal.

Kenny had previously said he was «not very optimistic» of being at Paris 2024 because of injuries.

«It's a combination of things,» he told the BBC. «The opportunity came up at British Cycling to be a coach and it's something I wanted to do when I stopped anyway and it might not be there in three years so I thought for the sake of three years, I don't know if I can do three more years anyway, I thought I'd take the opportunity now.

»I'm really sad. It's all I've ever known is racing and training. I'm sad on that front