Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Everything you need to know about Jason Kenny

The British rider has six Olympic gold medals to his name and will be looking to add to his tally in Japan

Jason Kenny posing with his Hope Lotus bike before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Jason Kenny CBE is the joint holder of the highest number of Olympic gold medals for a British athlete alongside fellow track cyclists Sir Chris Hoy with six. He also sits joint 25th for athletes from around the worldwide with American swimmer Michael Phelps holding the most at 23.

Kenny, 33 (born March 23 1988), comes into the Olympics with a chance of beating Sir Bradley Wiggins' tally of eight medals as he goes for gold in the match sprint, team sprint and the Keirin.

The British rider took his first medals, gold and silver, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the team sprint and the match sprint before backing it up at London 2012 taking gold in both events.

>>> Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games cycling schedule: when to watch the racing

In Rio 2016 it went even better as the Brit took three gold medals for the first time, defending his two titles and adding the Keirin to the list.

Kenny is also a three-time world champion, twice in the sprint in 2011 and 2016 and once in the Keirin in 2013 as well as taking the European title in 2010. Add onto that a plethora of national titles and he has quite a palmarès. However, he has not won since 2016.

His first real hit out was at the Future Stars series as part of the Revolution series in the Manchester Velodrome where Kenny tried out a number of events throughout 2003 and 2004 with him taking part in the Future Series competition in the latter year. 

This gave young riders a chance to race in front of a crowd and get used to the potential pressures they would be under as an adult in a major competition.

The next two years were very successful for Kenny as a junior with Great Britain where he won junior world titles as a sprinter and even competed in the senior competitions in World Cups and the professional Revolution series. He managed to take the win in the Revolution series in 07/08 beating the then world champion as well as many other big names.

2008 saw his major pro debuts in the world championships which earned him a place on the Olympic team where he did not disappoint after progressing from junior to pro in three years.

While he has not been as prolific in the world and European championships as he is in the Olympics, Kenny has still been a threat and has impressed throughout his career in these competitions.

Kenny married fellow track cycling star Laura Trott CBE in 2016 with the couple having their first son in August of 2017. He was also awarded a CBE alongside his wife in 2017 for services to cycling.

Tokyo 2020: Jason Kenny's schedule

Tuesday, August 3, 3.30pm - 6.10pm Japan/7.30am - 10.10am UK

Men's Team Sprint Qualifying
Men's Team Sprint Finals

Wednesday, August 4, 3.30pm - 7.00pm Japan/7.30am - 11am UK

Men's Sprint Qualifying
Men's Sprint 1/32 Finals
Men's Sprint 1/32 Finals Repechages
Men's Sprint 1/16 Finals
Men's Sprint 1/16 Finals Repechages

Thursday, August 5, 3.30pm - 6:50pm Japan/7.30am - 10.50am UK

Men's Sprint 1/8 Finals
Men's Sprint 1/8 Finals Repechages
Men's Sprint 1/4 Finals
Men's Sprint Final Places 5 to 8

Friday, August 6, 3.30pm - 5.15pm Japan/7.30am - 9.15am UK

Men's Sprint 1/2 Finals
Men's Sprint Final Places 3-4 & 1-2

Saturday, August 7, 3.30pm - 6.25pm Japan/7.30am - 10.25am UK

Men's Keirin First Round
Men's Keirin Repechages

Sunday, August 8, 10am - 1.15pm Japan/2am - 5.15am UK

Men's Keirin Quarterfinals
Men's Keirin Semifinals
Men's Keirin Final 7-12
Men's Keirin Final 1-6

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!


I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.


It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.


After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.


When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.


My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.