Olympic GB cycling: Kenny sprints to gold

London, Aug 7 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Britain's Jason Kenny sprinted to victory at the Olympic velodrome Monday, beating France's Gregory Bauge in the men's sprint final.

Kenny had earlier broken the Olympic record with a qualifying time of 9.713 seconds and won both of the first two runs to beat Bauge in the final on the best-of-three system.

The race for the gold medal was a rematch of the world championship final in Melbourne in April, when Bauge took the title.

Beating Bauge to the gold made the win even more special, Kenny said.

"I am really pleased about that. We're really close. At the worlds and the year before, he's been the slightly faster rider," he said.

"I like racing against Bauge, he's a real pro rider and it always makes for some pretty exciting racing."

Bauge said that the passionate home support had made all the difference. "I've done my sprint, I think I haven't made any mistake along the two matches."

"The public had a huge influence. Kenny is at home, this is a small detail that can give you the wings."

Bronze went to Australia's Shane Perkins, who recorded two dominant wins over Njisane Nicholas Phillip of Trinidad and Tobago to take third.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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