Chris Hoy has become only the second British man in history to win three gold medals in one Olympic Games when he beat fellow Brit Jason Kenny in the final of the men’s sprint today.

Hoy, from Edinburgh, won the best of three series 2-0 against Kenny at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing, coming from behind to pip the 20-year-old on the final straight in both races.

Kenny gave Hoy his biggest challenge of the event, but the 32-year-old Scot was simply too strong for his younger rival.  Such was the power of his finishing, he had time to give a victory salute as he crossed the line.

His first ports-of-call after winning was to hand out emotional bear-hugs to his team, his parents and his girlfriend.

Hoy, alongside Kenny and Jamie Staff, won his first gold on Friday in the men’s team sprint. 

He then took his second on Saturday in the keirin, while fellow Scot Ross Edgar clinched silver.

Hoy is now reigning Olympic champion in all four men’s sprinting disciplines, as his former event, the kilo, was scrapped from the Olympic roster after he won gold in Athens four years ago.