Chris Hoy has tipped Laura Kenny to take his title of Britain’s most decorated Olympian in Tokyo.
Kenny’s husband Jason, 31, is heading to his fourth Games and is level with Hoy on six gold medals, needing a medal of any colour on the Tokyo track to overtake him.
But with Laura – four times an Olympic champion herself – taking on three events next year, Hoy believes she will leapfrog everyone to claim the immortal title.
“It’s a definite possibility Laura could win three gold medals – she already has four, so she’d leapfrog Jason to get to the top in one fell swoop,” said Hoy.
“The hardest part in taking on so many events is recovery. You’ll have some athletes focussing on one of those events, and that’s it. They will put their full focus and effort into this one event.
“That could be your last event of three – emotionally drained, fatigued after the highs and the lows and you’ve got to be able to hit the ground running on that final day, being the best of the best.
“Winning one is tough, winning two is even tougher but winning three is a challenge on a whole different level. She has the potential to do it.”
Kenny is expected to compete in the Madison, omnium and team pursuit at the Olympics, winning medals in all three at October’s European Track Championships to fuel expectation.
While his wife won team pursuit gold in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Jason settled for silver in the team sprint behind the host nation, the same medal he won at the 2018 World Championships.
And while Hoy believes the 31-year-old can roar onto the rostrum in Tokyo, as he did three times in Rio, he expects the all-conquering Dutch team to have too much for the Brits.
“Britain have raised the bar many times and the rest of the world has followed, but we’ll be up there overall in the top one or two nations on the track,” said Hoy, speaking at the Olympic Park as part of the National Lottery’s 25-year anniversary celebration.
“I imagine the team sprint will win a medal, but the Dutch seem to be on another level.
“When they’re having a bad day and the Brits are having a good one, they can beat them. On their top form, they’re very difficult to beat.”
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