HEY HO, SILVER LINING

The end of a golden era for the spouses that roared, but no shame for Laura and Jason to lose to rivals that roared louder

FOR Mr and Mrs Silver, it may be the end of a golden era, and they were both wellbeaten in their gold medal races.

But instead of lamenting a day when the wheels fell off for Great Britain’s blazing saddles, let’s acknowledge that it took exceptional feats to deny Jason and Laura Kenny another visit to the Olympic podium summit.

As Laura tasted defeat for the first time at the Games in the women’s team pursuit, she warned: “It’s not over until it’s over. We’ve got two more events in women’s endurance. Don’t count us out just yet.”

And for husband Jason, who became Britain’s most decorated Olympian by adding a second silver medal to his six golds, defeat was no shame against three flying Dutchmen in the men’s team sprint final.

In many ways, it didn’t just feel as if the curtain was falling on Team GB’s cyclists at the Izu Velodrome. In the chaos of records tumbling, crashes, protests and an unexpected farewell, it seemed like the roof was caving in.

Ed Clancy’s retirement ushered in the end of Britain’s reign as team pursuit kings, then Laura Kenny’s 100 percent Olympic record was punctured by Germany’s quartet posting a mindblowing record of 4min 04.249sec.

And when his alliance with Ryan Owens and Jack Carlin was torpedoed by the Dutch, in an Olympic record 41.369sec, Jason Kenny’s unbeaten record in Olympic team sprint duels going back to Beijing was finally broken.

But there is no need to take down the bunting, no need for inquests, no need for recrimination. The Brits dished it out to the rest of the world in Beijing, London and Rio. Now they have to be humble enough to take it.

Laura is the fourth British woman to win at least five medals at a games, after dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin (six), rower Dame Katherine Grainger ( five) and tennis player Kitty McKane Godfree ( five).

British celebrations for the world record they set in the first round had been cut short when Katie Archibald crashed into Neah Evans after the finish, but both insisted the scars they collected played no part in their demolition in the final.

Looking glum, Laura said: “We knew the Germans would go fast – we just didn’t expect it to be that fast! They were phenomenal, you can’t take anything away from them. That is incredible, that’s going to be a record that stands for a long time.

“We set our hearts on gold so, yeah, we are going to feel disappointed. But on my phone so many people are saying, ‘You should be really proud of silver’. And I am really proud of silver.”