Tokyo Olympics: Laura and Jason Kenny win gold medals as son Albie watches from home

They were already Great Britain's golden couple but Jason and Laura Kenny cemented their place in Olympic history with a gold medal each at Tokyo 2020.

Yet arguably their proudest moment came a year earlier.

Laura posted a video on Instagram in June 2020 of her running carefully alongside their then two-year-old son Albie as he successfully learned to ride a bike., external

They are two of the strongest track cyclists in the world and they are also the best parents they can be to Albie, who will be four in August.

And, as for any parent trying to find the sweet spot between chasing their dreams and raising their child, it does not always come easily.

"I have never missed you more little man," Laura posted alongside an image of Albie watching her on television when she won team pursuit silver on Tuesday - the first time she has missed out on gold at the Olympics.

Three days later she was back on the top of the podium as Laura and Katie Archibald put on a cycling masterclass to dominate the women's madison to become the first British woman to win a gold medal at three Olympics.

On the final day of action, Jason was re-writing history himself as he won a seventh gold medal in a thrilling keirin race, becoming the most successful British Olympian of all time.

When it was announced that both husband and wife would represent GB in Tokyo, Laura said she "massively underestimated how hard it would be to juggle both being a parent and us both being athletes"., external

As the 29-year-old was making her return to the sport after giving birth, an endeavour in which she was ed by fellow mum and Olympic champion Jess Ennis-Hill, she said she had to build her training around Albie rather than the other way round.

That challenge was made even more difficult by the coronavirus lockdown, meaning the pair could no longer rely on the of grandparents to help care for Albie while they trained.

But the Kennys are "tough", says six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy.

Toughness is what it took for Laura to return from a broken shoulder and arm sustained 18 months before the Games.

It is how Jason, 33, got back to being one of Britain's best after taking a year away from the sport post-Rio.

And toughness has surely been required to do all of that while raising a toddler.

"Albie came along and it just changed everything," Laura told the BBC before the Games.

"I just sort of relaxed a lot more. Every time I go home I just switch off. I always thought I wanted to be a young mum and I didn't want to let it get in the way of my career.

"I wanted to prove to myself that I could do both."

Albie might make the logistics of finding time to train more complicated, but as both aimed to make their mark in the history books he has also provided vital motivation.

"I'd never been injured before, certainly not to that extent," she said of the injuries sustained in two major crashes in early 2020.

"It was the hardest couple of weeks in my career because I thought 'why am I doing this">