Well, it comes to something when the best the opposition can do is to accuse us of using “magic wheels”, as it appears one of the French coaches has done! Shades of Fabian Cancellara being accused of having a miniature engine concealed in his frame.
Maybe it was all lost in translation. Maybe Gregory Bauge had said to his coaches that all he saw of Jason Kenny was his magic heels. Now that would make sense, since neither Bauge nor anyone else ever got anywhere near getting past those heels, as Jason proceeded unbeaten through all the rounds of the Men’s Sprint competition.
What a performance. Looking back, once Jason had set the standard in the qualifying round, there was no way he was going away with anything less than a Gold Medal. Through to the semis against the inspired Trinidadian Phillip, he simply outclassed him, to such an extent that on his wind-down lap the brave Pan-American champion simply held his hands out, palms forward, and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say “Well, what did you expect? What more could I do?”
In the final, Jason was clearly the fastest, winning the first match from behind and leading the second match from the front all the way, including the trick of riding the entire first lap whilst looking backwards. Must try that one out with my friends at the next Friday morning veterans’ session at the Manchester Velodrome!
From a personal point of view, it was really nice that, as he rode round on his laps of honour, acknowledging the deafening roars from the crowd, Jason caught my eye as he passed me stood by the rail and nodded in acknowledgement. Clearly all those little tips I gave him as we passed in the corridor on a Friday morning as he headed for his weight training session must have made the difference......! But seriously, it was so nice of Jason to share his moment of immortality in that small way. A real gentleman as well as a superb and ruthless competitor. A credit to his family.
And what about Supergirl Laura Trott? How does she find those gaps in the Elimination Race - when there aren’t any? BOA Chairman Lord Moynihan, who was sat with me this evening, was astonished. As was former Prime Minister John Major, there again with wife Norma, both of them loving their cycling, and coming back again tomorrow to make sure they don’t miss Laura, Vicky or Sir Chris doing their stuff.
So, with Vicky through to the semi-finals and set for an epic battle against arch-rival Anna Meares, Laura lying in equal first place at the halfway stage of the Omnium, and Chris heading for his favourite Keirin and a possible Olympic farewell, Tuesday is certainly going to be a day to remember. Watch out for more of those magic heels!
Brian
