Kenny claims second gold
Jason Kenny added individual sprint gold to his team sprint success in the London Velodrome.
Last Updated: 07/08/12 8:22am
Great Britain's Jason Kenny claimed his second gold medal of the London 2012 Games with a sublime victory over France's Gregory Bauge in the final of the men's individual sprint.
The 24-year-old from Bolton outpaced Bauge in the first of their best-of-three showdown, and then produced a storming late burst in the very next heat to seal a sensational 2-0 victory over the three-time world champion.
That triumph followed up the team sprint gold medal he won alongside Sir Chris Hoy and Philip Hindes last Thursday, and was Britain's fifth cycling gold from seven events inside the velodrome.
The victory - Kenny's third career gold - fully justified his selection ahead of 2008 champion Sir Chris Hoy and both he and Bauge made serene progress to reach the final.
Kenny easily dispatched Trinidad's Njisane Phillip 2-0 in his semi-final round and Bauge saw off Australia's Shane Perkins in the other final-four tie.
Bauge was drawn on the inside for the first final contest, which meant he had to go in front of Kenny, turning to watch his opponent from the off.
Kenny weaved up and down the banking to tease Bauge and then used the slope to his advantage to speed past his rival and win by a wheel's length and go 1-0 up.
The draw then put Kenny in front in the second, but the Briton was unflustered and had too much speed for his opponent as he powered to a supreme victory.
Perkins would later take the bronze medal after getting the better of Phillip in their third-place decider.
Amazing
After wrapping up his victory, Kenny admitted being chosen over Hoy had been one of the key factors which inspired him to victory, and told the BBC: "It's amazing.
"I hadn't even thought about it until we got into that last ride and then it suddenly dawned on me, the battle I had just to get here with Chris, knowing that you've got someone on the sideline that definitely wouldn't give that second sprint away, so I was thinking 'I'd better not mess this one up'.
"I was really pleased to deliver for the team."
On Bauge, he added: "We were really close once again and it slightly went the other way at the worlds last year, and the year before. He's been the slightly faster rider and I've been racing to come down to that.
"I like racing against Bauge he's a nice, fast rider so it's always exciting racing."