Laura and Jason Kenny banishing thoughts of making British Olympic history

The couple can each become the top British male and female Olympians of all time.

Tom Harle
Monday 21 June 2021 04:10 EDT
Laura and Jason Kenny are bidding for more golden Olympic moments
Laura and Jason Kenny are bidding for more golden Olympic moments (PA Wire)

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It’s childcare not cycling that's consuming Laura and Jason Kenny ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Son Albie won't be in Japan to watch his parents aim to add to their haul of ten Olympic gold medals in the velodrome.

The toddler will join Jason and Laura at the British Cycling holding camp in Newport and then stay with both sets of grandparents for a week during the Games.

While it will be a wrench to be away from Albie for the longest period yet, Laura revealed the three-year-old may not have travelled, even if foreign spectators weren't banned.

"The ban on foreign fans almost took the decision away from us," said Kenny, whose exploits in Tokyo will be broadcast live on Eurosport and discovery+.

"Even when that hadn't come in, we were umming and ahhing given the risks around travel at the moment.

"There have been two flights coming back from places when athletes have had to self-isolate. There was that risk when it's your family and we could do nothing in the event of him having to quarantine over there.

"He's got his own room at his grandparents so he'll be comfortable there. We'll want to talk to him as much as we can on the phone."

A recent race in Ghent, Belgium was the first time both had left Albie's side for a long period, with Laura also going to Belarus for October's European Championships.

Alongside full-time training and motherhood, Laura incredibly also personally manages a series of properties, liaising directly with workmen.

"I'm an organiser, I like to be really organised," she said. "I sat down with Jessica Ennis when she was pregnant with her second child and she said: 'you have to have a timetable in place and tell everyone exactly where you need them and when.'

"I didn't think I could do that but actually, it came very easy to me. I do like organising people as it happens!"

The four-time Olympic champion has three further shots at gold in Tokyo having been formally selected for the Madison alongside Katie Archibald.

2020 turned into a year of recovery for Kenny, with a broken shoulder sustained in January 2020 preventing her from even trying the Madison's trademark 'handsling'.

"This extra year has just helped me as an athlete," she said. "Had the Olympics gone ahead in 2020 I would have been OK, but I wanted to put my hat in the ring for three events.

"I wouldn't have been able to do Madison, it was only last June when I realised I could physically do the change. I want to be my best, I don't want to just be fit."

Jason is well-known for holding plenty in reserve for Olympic race day but his selection for Tokyo was far from guaranteed when he took a year away from the sport after Rio.

And whether the sprint star suppresses his instincts and continues a further three years to Paris 2024 remains a moot point.

"After Rio, I had no intention of carrying on," he said. "I'm very relaxed and I've enjoyed the last three or four years of training. I had a hard reset after 2016 and I have no plans whatsoever after the last day of the Olympics.

"I might choose to carry on, but I might not have a choice, I might get pushed out of the team!"

Stream every unmissable moment of Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 live on discovery+

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