GOLDEN GIRL

Track queen Laura rides off into the sunset with her place in history books secured

MIKE WALTERS pays tribute to a cycling legend after star retires from sport

SHE was the queen of Team GB’s blazing saddles who turned the music up on Super Saturday at the London 2012 Olympics. 

Three hours before Jessica EnnisHill, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah brought home the bullion in those electric 44 minutes in the athletics stadium, our greatest female Olympian was announcing herself on the velodrome track.

Dame Laura Kenny’s gold medal ride with Dani King and Joanna Rowsell in the women’s team pursuit smashed the world record, just as they did on all six occasions they rode together as a holy trinity on two wheels. And that was just her opening statement.

By the time she took the final curtain, announcing her retirement with five Olympic gold medals and seven world champion’s rainbow jerseys, Kenny was the greatest female cyclist on the planet – and one half of Great Britain’s most successful sporting household.

Husband Sir Jason Kenny had announced his retirement after his magnificent seventh Olympic title in Tokyo three years ago.

Jason and Laura joked about having enough gold medals between them to make a unique clock face – one for each number on the dial.