GREAT Britain cyclists Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald have struck gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

​They have won the first ever Olympic women’s Madison in dominant fashion.

For Kenny, who lives with her Olympian husband Jason in Chelford, it is a sixth medal in her Games history and equals the highest count of any female athlete representing Team GB.

Knutsford Guardian:

Knutsford Guardian:

The smiles say it all. Picture: PA

It was a fifth career Olympic gold for Kenny, who surpassed Dutchwoman Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel to become the most successful female cyclist of any nation in Olympic history.

Kenny, asked what it felt like to be become the first female British Olympian to win a gold medal at three successive Olympic Games, told the BBC: “It’s unbelievable. I am just so glad.

Knutsford Guardian:

“I have never wanted to win a race so badly in my life. It was giving me fears like never before.

"That was the one. I messaged Jason this morning and said, 'I feel like my Olympics ends today.'

"The one race I really wanted to do was this and we went and did it."

It was her first Olympic gold since giving birth to her son Albie in 2017.

Kenny, invited to send a message to her son Albie back home in the UK, added: "I've never missed Albie so much in all my life. I kept saying to people, 'please don't ask me about Albie'.

"I couldn't have done it without these girls. It's so hard leaving him at home but to have Katie there the whole time, I just feel like I'm racing with a sister and I couldn't have done it if we didn't have that relationship."

Knutsford Guardian:

The British pair looked in control from the off, winning the first three sprints on the track and then further extending their advantage after the Dutch pair of Kirsten Wild and Amy Pieters, reigning world champions, were caught in a crash with a little over 70 laps remaining.

In the second half of the race the British duo got themselves in a series of breakaways, hoovering up points in the sprints and gaining a lap with a little over 20 to go to build an all-but-insurmountable lead.

By the end of the race, they had won 10 of the 12 sprints – including the double points for the last lap – to finish with 78 points, more than twice the tally of second-placed Denmark on 35.

Knutsford Guardian:

Knutsford Guardian:

Knutsford Guardian:

Kenny and Archibald wasted little time asserting their dominance in the race as they beat the Dutch in the first three sprints, taking it in turns as Archibald won the first and Kenny the second.

Australia took the fourth sprint and would soon play spoiler in the race as they disrupted a Dutch hand-sling to send Wild crashing to the ground with a little over 70 laps to go.

Though Wild got back to her bike the Dutch challenge faded, with Archibald and Kenny peeling off the front, first with the French, then with the Danish and Russian Olympic Committee teams to keep collecting points.

This is the first ever running of the women’s Madison, with the event also returning to the men’s programme for the first time since 2008.