JASON Kenny paid tribute to the backing he has received from the British team after claiming his fifth Olympic gold medal.

The 28-year-old Farnworth flyer beat fellow Brit Callum Skinner 2-0 in the final, just three days after the pair rode together to win gold in the team sprint.

Kenny’s latest Olympic title draws him level with fellow cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins and rower Sir Steve Redgrave on five golds and just one behind Britain’s most decorated Olympian Sir Chris Hoy.

But the Boltonian refused to accept all the plaudits.

“It’s special, it’s really special, but I’m just really grateful. Everyone works really hard for us and we appreciate it,” he said.

“At the Olympics we’ve got a team (behind us) that works so hard. Everyone is just so focussed on the Olympic Games so when we come here and we win it feels like the team’s win, particularly when we win the team sprint and the team events.

“That’s why they are so special to us because we have got everyone behind us, pushing us on and giving us all the tools really.”

Hoy tipped Kenny to surpass his achievements on the track, backing him to equal his haul of gold medals with victory in Tuesday’s keirin before going on to add to his tally at the Tokyo Games in 2020.

“That is confident, he’s more confident than I am,” said Kenny.

“I will give it a go, give it my best shot.

“I have got a day off now, which is much appreciated. So I’ll have a day off tomorrow, hopefully recuperate and come back fighting on Tuesday in the keirin and hopefully get something out of it.”

Kenny claimed his first gold in the team sprint at the Beijing Games in 2008, when he also won silver after losing to Hoy in the individual final. He then claimed titles in both the team and individual sprints at London 2012.

It seemed the Bolton racer had confidence to burn after playing a key role in Team GB’s team sprint victory on Thursday night, but admitted being shaken by a defeat in the opening leg of his semi-final against Russian Denis Dmitriev on Saturday night.

“I must admit that my confidence was knocked a bit in that loss to Dmitriev in the semis but I think it kind of woke me up a bit and I learned a bit from that and managed to take it into the final,” he added.

After storming back to win the next two races in his semi, Kenny showed too much nous for 23-year-old Skinner in the final.

He used all his experience to pull clear of his rival in the opening leg, staying high on the track before storming past Skinner on the final lap after getting a run on his young team-mate.

He then won the second leg starting from the front for his fifth Olympic title.

The pair have shared a room in the Olympic village and had to spend Saturday night in each other’s company as they prepared to go head-to-head.

“It’s hard because you have so long between rides,” added Kenny. “Last night we finished the semis and had to wait 24 hours before we did the finals, so it’s a bit difficult.

“But we’ve raced a lot in our career against each other and I think we will race a lot more so it’s just another race really, in one way.”