Tokyo 2020: Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald win madison gold

Laura Kenny became the first British women to win at three Olympic Games after she and Katie Archibald won the madison event gold.

The GB cyclists won with a truly dominant performance, taking gold with 78 points. The madison event is typically unpredictable, but Kenny and Archibald were confident through, winning 10 of the 12 sprints on offer. Their lead was such that, among the other teams, it was only ever really a competition for silver.

Denmark won the silver with 35, while the Russian Olympic Committee took the bronze with 26. The Dutch world champions Amy Pieters and Kirsten Wild finished fourth after being involved in a crash.

After the event, Kenny said: “I’ve never wanted to win a medal so much in all my life. I messaged [husband and fellow GB cyclist] Jason and said I feel like my Olympics ends today. I love the team pursuit but I felt relief when it was over because this was the one race I wanted to win – I just feel so relieved.”

This is Kenny’s fifth gold and sixth Olympic medal overall, making her GB’s most decorated female athlete. 

Archibald said: “I’ve been dreaming about having this conversation – I’ve never wanted something so much, I’ve never been so nervous but we’ve been so clinical with our approach. We had a change of coach last year for this event. We’re going for the all round and trying to spread between events and it feels so satisfying for it to come off.”

The event was added to the Olympic programme for the first time at Tokyo 2020.