Sir Jason Francis Kenny, (born 23 March 1988) is an English former track cyclist, specialising in the individual and team sprints. Kenny is the holder of most Olympic gold medals (7) and medals (9) for a British athlete. Kenny's seven Olympic gold medals place him joint 15th by reference to gold medals won in the Summer Olympic games since 1896. He is the single holder of the records for both most Olympic golds and Olympic medals for a cyclist.
With seven gold and two silver medals, Kenny is the most successful British Olympian, most successful British cyclist, and the most successful cyclist, in Olympic history. His wife, Laura Kenny, holds the same records on the female side (five gold and one silver), and together they are the most successful married couple in Summer Olympic history where both spouses have won at least one gold medal (with 12 gold and 3 silver medals between them).
After winning World and European Junior titles in 2006 and achieving medals in the under-23 European championships in 2007, Kenny was selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. With Chris Hoy and Jamie Staff, he won a gold medal in the team sprint, breaking the world record in the qualifying round. He finished behind Hoy in the final of the individual sprint, gaining a silver medal.
In January 2012, he gained his first world championship title, when 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. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he won gold medals in both the team sprint and the individual sprint, beating Baugé in the final. At the 2016 Summer Olympics Kenny again won in the Team Sprint and the Individual Sprint, and also won the Keirin. In the 2020 Summer Olympics he won the Keirin again.
Early life
Kenny was born on 23 March 1988. Kenny's parents are Lorraine and Michael Kenny, and he has an older brother, Craig. He was educated at Mount St Joseph School in Farnworth. 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.
He was a keen sportsperson during his youth, showing ability as a football goalkeeper as well as playing cricket and tennis, but having learned to ride a bicycle at a young age, became involved in track racing when he and his brother attended a track session at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, when an uncle had booked a session and had some spare places.
Career
Future Stars series
Kenny's first track competition was 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 four track meetings. The series provided young people with the chance to compete in front of a crowd from an early age; it is known for providing opportunity for many young riders. When the 2004/2005 season finished in February 2005, Kenny was in the top 10 of the final standings.
2005–2007
During the 2005/2006 racing season, Kenny competed 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, against some of the world's best Sprint riders. In the Revolution events in the 2007/2008 season, Kenny beat the 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.