Jason Kenny

Jason Francis Kenny, CBE (born 23 March 1988) is a British track cyclist, specialising in the individual and team sprints. After winning multiple World and European Junior titles in 2006 and achieving medals in the under 23 European championships in 2007, Kenny was selected ahead of Ross Edgar to compete for Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[2] Along with Chris Hoy and Jamie Staff, he won a gold medal in the team sprint, breaking the world record in the qualifying round.[3] He finished behind team-mate Chris Hoy in the final of the individual sprint, gaining a silver medal.

For the Canadian politician, see Jason Kenney.

Jason Kenny
CBE
Kenny at Our Greatest Team Parade in 2012
Personal information
Full nameJason Francis Kenny
Born (1988-03-23) 23 March 1988
Farnworth, Bolton, England
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight80 kg (176 lb)[1]
Team information
DisciplineTrack
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Professional team
2008–2013Team Sky+ HD

In January 2012, he gained his first world championship title, after Grégory Baugé's results were nullified after a backdated 12-month ban for missing a drugs test, and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) promoted Kenny to the gold medal.[4][5] At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he won gold medals in both the team sprint and in the individual sprint, beating Baugé in the final. At the 2016 Summer Olympics Kenny repeated his 2012 wins in the Team Sprint and the Individual Sprint, and also won a Gold Medal the Keirin,

Kenny is the joint holder of the highest number of Olympic Golds for a British athlete (6) alongside fellow track cyclist Chris Hoy. Kenny's six Olympic gold medals place him the joint 25th in terms of gold medals won in the modern Summer Olympic games since 1896 with only Michael Phelps (23) and Usain Bolt (8) winning more since the Games of the new millennium in 2000.

Early life

Kenny was born on 23 March 1988.[6] He has an elder brother, Craig. He was educated at Mount St Joseph School in Farnworth.[7] In the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games Kenny visited the school and praised the support he had received from his PE teachers.

Career

Future Stars series

Kenny's first taste of major track competition came when he competed in the Future Stars series, a junior competition held as part of the Revolution series at the Manchester Velodrome. Kenny competed in a number of the ad hoc events during the first season of the Revolution in 2003/2004. In the second season, he competed in the first fully fledged Future Series competition, taking part in a number of sprint and endurance events for 15- and 16-year-olds, during the season of 4 track meetings. The series gives youngsters the chance to compete in front of a crowd from an early age, it is noted for showcasing the majority of Britain's young talent. When the 2004/2005 season finished in February 2005, the 16-year-old Kenny finished in the top 10 in the final standings.

2005–2007

During the 2005/2006 racing season, Kenny went on to compete for Great Britain at a junior level as a sprinter and won world titles at the junior world championships. In the 2006/2007 season, he competed at a senior level for the team and took part in a number of World Cup Classics events across the world and Revolution events in Manchester, pitting himself against some of the world's best Sprint riders. In the Revolution events in the 2007/2008 season, Kenny beat some of the world's best sprinters, including reigning world champion Theo Bos.

2008

Kenny made his debut in the world championships in 2008, finishing fifth overall in the sprint competition. In the Olympic Games, he made the team sprint squad, replacing Ross Edgar at man 2 in the team just before the Games. The team defeated the French team that had beaten them to the world title in Manchester only months earlier by over half a second. In the sprint competition, Kenny reached the final, but was defeated by his teammate Chris Hoy 2–0. His rise as a cyclist has been rapid. He progressed from competing in a domestic junior series to Olympic Champion in only 3 and a half years.

Kenny was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[8]

2012 Olympics
Kenny (front) and Chris Hoy during the team sprint at the 2012 Olympic Games

At the London 2012 Olympic Games Kenny won gold in the team sprint with Chris Hoy and Philip Hindes, setting a new world record in the London Velopark with a time of 42.6 seconds.[9][10] He also won gold in the men's sprint final, setting a new Olympic record in qualifying and avenging his previous losses to Baugé with a 200m time of 10.308s in his final lap. Kenny was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling.[11][12]

2013–2014

Following the 2012 Olympics Kenny competed at the 2013 World Championships, he failed to backup his Olympic sprint and Team Sprint titles, finishing 7th and 6th respectively, however he did win the Keirin event.[13]

His 2013–14 season started with national titles in all three Olympic sprint, team sprint and the keirin. At the first round of the UCI Track World Cup he failed to qualify for the sprint event, whilst finishing 4th in the Keirin and winning a bronze medal in the Team Sprint. At the second round of the World Cup, he secured silver medals in the Sprint and Team Sprint, but did not contest the Keirin. The World Cup/Championships season finished with the UCI World Championships where he failed to secure any medals, finishing 5th in all three events he contested.

At the Commonwealth Games he won a silver medal in the Team Sprint. In the Sprint event he qualified 11th out of 12 qualifiers, and went on to lose his first round against Eddie Dawkins of New Zealand. This left him in the repechage, where he beat his Great Britain teammates Callum Skinner and Lewis Oliva to make it to the 1/8 finals. Despite his poor form in the early rounds, in the 1/8 round he beat Matthew Glaetzer, the fastest qualifier (qualifying almost half a second quicker) and holder of the Commonwealth record, in two straight rides, to secure his way into the semi-finals, where he beat Peter Lewis after three rides. In the final he won a silver medal, losing 2–1 to Sam Webster.

2016 Summer Olympics

At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Kenny won gold in the men's team sprint with Philip Hindes and Callum Skinner.[14] He won gold in the men's individual sprint, beating Callum Skinner in the final.[15] On 16 August Kenny won the gold medal in the final of the men's Keirin, to join Chris Hoy as the holder of 6 Olympic gold medals, more than any other GB athlete.[16]

Kenny was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to cycling.[17]

Personal life

In September 2016, Kenny married fellow track cyclist Laura Trott.[18][19] As of 2016, the couple live near Knutsford in Cheshire.[20] On 14 February 2017, it was announced that the couple were expecting their first child.[21]

Kenny's parents are Lorraine and Michael Kenny, who live in Bolton, and he has an older brother Craig, who lives in neighbouring Manchester.[22]

Like former team-mate Chris Hoy, Kenny has tried his hand at motor racing in a Radical SR3, having finished on the podium at a round of the Radical European Masters at the Nürburgring in 2014.[23]

Major results

Source:[6]

2005
1st Team sprint, National Track Championships
2006
UCI Track World Cup
1st Team sprint (Moscow)
3rd Team sprint (Los Angeles)
2007
UEC European Under–23 Track Championships
3rd Sprint
3rd Team sprint
2008
Olympic Games
1st Team sprint
2nd Sprint
UCI Track World Cup
1st Sprint (Manchester)
1st Team sprint (Manchester)
2nd Keirin (Manchester)
2009
UCI Track World Cup
1st Team sprint (Copenhagen)
2nd Team sprint (Manchester)
3rd Sprint (Manchester)
2nd Team sprint, Track World Championships
UEC European Under–23 Track Championships
2nd Keirin
2nd Sprint
2nd Team sprint
2010
UEC European Track Championships
1st Keirin
3rd Sprint
3rd Team sprint
1st Team sprint, National Track Championships
3rd Team sprint, UCI Track World Championships
2011
UCI Track World Championships
1st Sprint
2nd Team sprint
2012
Olympic Games
1st Sprint
1st Team sprint
UCI Track World Championships
2nd Sprint
3rd Keirin
2013
1st Keirin, UCI Track World Championships
National Track Championships
1st Keirin
1st Sprint
1st Team sprint
UEC European Track Championships
2nd Keirin
3rd Sprint
UCI Track World Cup
2nd Sprint (Aguascalientes)
2nd Team sprint (Aguascalientes)
3rd Team sprint (Manchester)
2014
1st Team Sprint, National Track Championships
Commonwealth Games
2nd Sprint
2nd Team sprint
UCI Track World Cup
1st Team sprint (Guadalajara)
2nd Sprint (Guadalajara)
2015
National Track Championships
1st Kilo
1st Team sprint
2016
Olympic Games
1st Team sprint
1st Sprint
1st Keirin
1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships

See also

References
  1. "Athlete Biography – KENNY Jason". Beijing Olympics official website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2008.
  2. Kenny gets nod as France vs Britain grudge match looms American Broadcasting Company; 15 August 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008
  3. Awesome GB sprint team take gold BBC Sport; 15 August 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  4. Stokes, Shane (6 January 2012). "UCI confirms Jason Kenny, Germany are upgraded to 2011 world track champions". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  5. "Baugé and France lose World track titles". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  6. Jason Kenny biography British Cycling. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  7. Kelly, Angela (3 July 2013). "Jason Kenny's parents reveal secret to Olympic hero's success". Bolton News. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  8. "No. 58929". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2008. p. 19.
  9. "Joy as three golds push Team GB up medals table". BBC. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  10. "Chris Hoy claims fifth Olympic gold medal as Britain win team sprint". The Guardian. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  11. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
  12. "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  13. Fotheringham, William (22 February 2013). "Jason Kenny wins keirin world title after Simon Yates' points gold". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  14. "Rio Olympics 2016: Great Britain win third straight team sprint gold". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  15. "Rio Olympics 2016: Jason Kenny beats Callum Skinner to win back-to-back Olympic titles". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  16. "Rio Olympics 2016: Laura Trott, Jason Kenny, Giles Scott golds for GB on day 11". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  17. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N9.
  18. "Olympic cyclists Jason Kenny and Laura Trott marry". The Guardian. 25 September 2016.
  19. "Olympics golden couple Jason Kenny and Laura Trott marry in private". BBC. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  20. Fordyce, Tom (17 August 2016). "Rio Olympics 2016: Laura Trott & Jason Kenny – Britain's golden couple". BBC. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  21. "Laura Kenny and husband Jason expecting first child". BBC News. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  22. Bardsley, Andrew (17 August 2016). "Jason Kenny's parents on what it's like to watch your son smash Olympic records".
  23. Cozens, Jack (22 August 2016). "Olympic gold medallist Jason Kenny to race Radical at Brands Hatch". Autosport. Retrieved 22 August 2016.

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