Jason Kenny forced into last chance repechage after losing heat in defence of Olympic title – but British team-mate Jack Carlin comfortably progresses to the quarter-finals
Jason Kenny’s defence of his sprint title suffered a blow after he was defeated in his 1/8 finals heat by Russian athlete Denis Dmitriev.
As well as defending the sprint titles he won in London and Rio, Kenny is now looking to become Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian of all time with a ninth medal in Tokyo.
But he was held off well by the Dmitriev in his heat, and he will now feature in a repechage for a second chance to reach the quarter-finals.
However, team-mate Jack Carlin impressed again after comfortably seeing off Frenchman Sebastien Vigier to reach the last eight.
On Wednesday the Brits had secured qualification with times quicker than Kenny’s Olympic record set in Rio.
Kenny recorded the eighth best time at 9.510 seconds, narrowly beating the 9.551 he set five years ago when he took gold.
Carlin though was even quicker, progressing through qualification with an impressive 9.306 to go third quickest.
Carlin’s Olympic record lasted mere minutes as world champion Harrie Lavreysen went faster with a 9.215 before his Dutch compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland bizarrely recorded the exact same time.
Along with the top three qualifiers, among the challengers to Kenny’s title is Paul Nicholas of Trinidad and Tobago.
Nicholas set a new world record of 9.100 two years ago and was fourth quickest at the velodrome.
Hoogland, Lavreysen and Nicholas also progressed from their heats as winners to also reach the quarter-finals – where the six heat winners are joined by two riders from the two three-cyclist repechage which feature the losing riders from the 1/8 finals.