Great Britain’s dominance at the velodrome continued on Tuesday evening with Chris Hoy’s gold medal win in men’s Keirin. For the host country, it’s an astonishing seventh gold medal in track cycling (ninth medal overall) -- no other country has more than one gold in the competition.
Great Britain’s Chris Hoy Wins Men’s Keirin, Capturing Sixth Gold Medal
For Sir Chris Hoy, a cycling legend -- he was knighted in 2009 “for services to Sport” -- the win is his sixth career gold medal, making him Great Britain’s all-time leader in Olympic gold. He added to his tally earlier in the Games with a win in team sprint.
With roughly 100 meters to go on the final lap, Germany’s Maximilian Levy had the lead and looked like he was headed for the win, but Hoy exploded coming out of the final turn and edged Levy at the line. New Zealand’s Simon van Velthooven and Teun Mulder from the Netherlands finished in a tie for third and will both take home bronze medals.
Keirin is a race involving eight laps around the track. Riders follow a motorized pacer for the first five-and-a-half laps. It begins at a speed of 18mph and increases to a max speed of 31mph before veering off with just over 600 meters remaining.
Riders line up along the start line, their positions drawn by lot. The motorbike approaches on the inside lane and as it passes the start line, the rider on the inside must take up position behind the derny unless another rider takes the position first.
The riders then engage in an all-out sprint for the finish for the final 2.5 laps.
Hoy’s record-breaking gold medal moved him past Britain’s previous leader, rower Sir Steven Redgrave.
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