World Bicycle Day 2022: Five of the most memorable moments in Olympic cycling history

Jason and Laura Kenny - Cycling track

If there is anything akin to royalty in the world of track cycling, Great Britain’s Jason Kenny and Laura Kenny may be the king and queen.

Jason and Laura both hold the records for most Olympic gold medals and most Olympic medals for a British athlete - for men and women respectively, making them the most successful married couple in the history of the Summer Olympics.

Jason, for his part, has seven gold medals and two silvers, while Laura has five golds and one silver.

And while it’s difficult to choose just one moment that captures the dominance of this cycling power couple, perhaps Tokyo 2020 may be the greatest example of their enduring brilliance.

Laura Kenny won gold in the women’s Madison, an event that was making its debut at the Games, dominating the race alongside Katie Archibald. Then on the very last day of the Games, Jason won his seventh record-breaking gold medal in the men’s keirin to cap an incredible Olympics for the couple.

Mariana Pajon - BMX racing

If she's known as the Queen of BMX, there's a good reason for it. Other than her numerous individual titles, Mariana Pajon made history at the Olympic Games, not just for Colombia but also for her sport.

At Rio 2016, Pajon became the first-ever BMX racer to win consecutive gold medals, following up her Olympic title at London 2012 with another memorable win in Brazil.

Unbeaten heading into the final, Pajon showed nothing of the nerves that can sometimes hamper favourites. She stormed to victory over the USA's silver medallist **Alise Post**and Venezuela's bronze medal winner Stefany Hernandez.

While Pajon didn't quite reach the heights of previous Games when she competed at Tokyo 2020, she still came away with a silver medal, making it three medals from three Olympic outings for the irrepressible Colombian.

Miguel Indurain - Cycling road

Spain’s Miguel Indurain had been on a record-breaking run coming into the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996. The road cyclist had won an unprecedented five consecutive Tour de France titles from 1991 until 1995 and was already considered one of the greatest cyclists of all time.

At the Atlanta Olympics, the first in which professional cyclists were allowed to compete at the Games, Indurain won a spectacular gold in the time trial - the first-ever by a Spanish cyclist in the nation’s history.

Charlotte Worthington - BMX freestyle

Sometimes winning gold at the Olympics comes down to having the bravery to take chances. Such was the case for Team GB's Charlotte Worthington when BMX freestyle made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

After USA favourite Hannah Roberts had completed a huge run, throwing down her bike in relief after registering a score of 96.10, it was all or nothing for Britain's Worthington on her own final run of the Games.

Worthington stunned the watching world by landing a backflip 360, the first time the trick had ever been successfully performed in a women's competition. Her score of 97.50 could not be beaten and the chef-turned-athlete became the first-ever women's BMX freestyle champion.

Nino Schurter - Mountain Bike

A true legend of the sport of mountain biking, Switzerland's Nino Schurter has won seven overall World Cup titles and nine men's cross-country world championships in a stunning career.

However, heading into the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the title of Olympic champion had eluded him. A bronze medal in Beijing in 2008 and a silver at London 2012 were both great achievements but for a racer of his calibre, there was one thing missing from his trophy cabinet: Olympic gold.

All that changed at Rio 2016, when he soared to the gold medal, beating off the challenges of Czech Republic's Jaroslav Kulhavy and Spain's Carlos Coloma Nicolas to complete his Olympic medal collection.