Jason Kenny Wins 7th Olympic Gold to Become Britain's Greatest Olympian

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Cycling - Track - Men's Keirin - Gold Final - Izu Velodrome, Shizuoka, Japan - August 8, 2021. Jason Kenny of Britain celebrates with a British flag after taking gold in the race. REUTERS/Matthew Childs
Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Cycling - Track - Men's Keirin - Gold Final - Izu Velodrome, Shizuoka, Japan - August 8, 2021. Jason Kenny of Britain celebrates with a British flag after taking gold in the race. REUTERS/Matthew Childs
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Jason Kenny Wins 7th Olympic Gold to Become Britain's Greatest Olympian

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Cycling - Track - Men's Keirin - Gold Final - Izu Velodrome, Shizuoka, Japan - August 8, 2021. Jason Kenny of Britain celebrates with a British flag after taking gold in the race. REUTERS/Matthew Childs
Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Cycling - Track - Men's Keirin - Gold Final - Izu Velodrome, Shizuoka, Japan - August 8, 2021. Jason Kenny of Britain celebrates with a British flag after taking gold in the race. REUTERS/Matthew Childs

Jason Kenny said he might think twice about retiring from the cycling track after winning his seventh Olympic gold on Sunday to become Britain's most successful Olympian of all time.

The 33-year-old produced a dazzling performance in the men's keirin final to win his ninth medal overall and overtake Chris Hoy, who won six golds.

Elsewhere on the final day of action at the Izu Velodrome, Canada's Kelsey Mitchell won the women's sprint and America's Jennifer Valente took gold in the women's omnium.

But Kenny stole the show and has now also surpassed retired cyclist Bradley Wiggins as the most-decorated British Olympian ever, with seven golds and two silvers across four Games.

The defending champion finished ahead of Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang and Dutch world champion Harrie Lavreysen -- who won gold medals in the sprint and team sprint at the Tokyo Games -- after pulling off a stunning ambush in the final.

The keirin involves riders lurking behind a pace-maker until the last three laps and Kenny caught his opponents napping by immediately launching into an incredible sprint.

The veteran rider, who briefly retired after Rio 2016, is yet to confirm if he will continue beyond the Tokyo but admits his latest triumph has given him pause for thought.

Asked if this was his final race, Kenny said: "If you'd asked me this morning I would have said 'yeh, probably', but now I feel pretty good so I might carry on."

Kenny had looked like a fading force for most of the week in the Izu Velodrome, where he took a silver medal in the team sprint before being outclassed in the individual sprint by Lavreysen.

- Niggles -
"This morning in my head I was 33 and getting slower," he said. "From a British cycling point of view you'd rather back someone who is 20 and getting faster. It was difficult.

"I haven't been able to train the way I want to, I've had niggles. It might not be up to me (whether he stays in the team). I was disappointed with my pace here so it might be out of my hands."

On his victory lap, Kenny tossed away his helmet before throwing his arms into the air. On the podium, Awang and Lavreysen hoisted Kenny onto their shoulders.

Kenny's wife, Laura, was unable to add to her own medal haul, finishing sixth in the women's omnium, an event in which she won gold in 2012 and 2016.

Laura Kenny won gold in the madison and silver in the team pursuit at the Tokyo Games, taking the Kenny couple's total Olympic medal haul to 15, including 12 golds.

US cyclist Valente won the race, finishing 14 points ahead of Yumi Kajihara, who took silver to win Japan's first medal on the track. Dutch rider Kirsten Wild took bronze.

Canada's Kelsey Mitchell won gold in the women's sprint, just four years after taking up the sport.

Mitchell won the first two races in a best-of-three final against Olena Starikova of Ukraine. Hong Kong's Lee Wai-sze took bronze.



Raef Alturkistani Reveals Career Journey after Winning SEF Award for Best Fighting Game Player

Dr. Raef Alturkistani chuckles when asked whether he truly saves lives by day and takes them by night
Dr. Raef Alturkistani chuckles when asked whether he truly saves lives by day and takes them by night
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Raef Alturkistani Reveals Career Journey after Winning SEF Award for Best Fighting Game Player

Dr. Raef Alturkistani chuckles when asked whether he truly saves lives by day and takes them by night
Dr. Raef Alturkistani chuckles when asked whether he truly saves lives by day and takes them by night

Raef Alturkistani recently won the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) Award for Best Fighting Game Player for the second year in a row. For the first time, he reveals his incredible career journey.

Dr. Raef Alturkistani chuckles when asked whether he truly saves lives by day and takes them by night.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I do!” says the 28-year-old.

It may sound dramatic, but his story is anything but ordinary.

A Jeddah native, Alturkistani recently completed his medical residency after earning his degree from King Abdulaziz University.

But beyond medicine, Alturkistani is a world-class Tekken player, recently clinching his second consecutive Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) Award for Best Fighting Game Player.

“That achievement means a lot for me because I won it back-to-back,” he says. “To win it for the second time in a row really is special. I completed my residency as a doctor and achieved so much in esports in the same year. That’s what makes me proud, and I hope I continue this in the future.”

His favorite esports moments in 2024 include finishing third at the Tekken World Tour Finals and securing fifth at the Evolution Championship Series (Evo) T8—achievements that cemented his global reputation.

“To come top five at Evo and in the world finals top three... that meant a lot,” Alturkistani, who stars for Dragon Esports, says. “They contributed to winning my second SEF Award. I have developed my career over the past years until I reached this position right now of being top three in the world.”

Alturkistani has been a gamer “since I was four, I think” and started playing fighting games professionally in 2018. Juggling medicine and esports is a masterclass in time management, but Alturkistani is proving that dedication to both can pay off.

“Sometimes you have to do your own priorities,” he reveals. “If you have a tournament coming, you have to prepare for it more, but if you have exams or things then you have to focus on your career. You have to balance it; you have to be stable and do your best at each thing when needed.

“Sometimes I play for one or two hours and sometimes I don’t play but I watch, and when I watch, I learn. If I’m on an airplane or something, I’ll watch to learn. It’s a continuous process.”

As if excelling in medicine and esports wasn’t enough, Alturkistani is also a decorated martial artist, having won silver in the 2018 Asian Games men’s kumite 75kg event.

“I’m a martial artist so I guess I can take lives in real life too!” the doctor and Tekken hero, who achieved his Asian Games karate triumph in Jakarta, Indonesia, quips.

His favorite Tekken character, the one he performs under, is Jin Kazama. Scarily, he can replicate his favorite move with Jin Kazama in real life. “It’s a good kick,” Alturkistani says. “I can do it myself in karate.”

For all Alturkistani’s individual success, he is very much a member of the gaming community and has no doubts from where the roots of Saudi Arabia’s surging prominence in the global esports scene originate.

“I’m really thankful for the Saudi Esports Federation,” Alturkistani says. “I’m really thankful for Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud (the Chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation) for being here for us. Especially supporting the fighting games, it gives hope for me and the new generation that we can come up and become the best in the world. I want to be the best in the world.”