Feb 19, 2012 - World sprint champion Jason Kenny insisted his Olympic selection duel with British teammate Sir Chris Hoy is far from over despite suffering a setback in the track World Cup.

Four-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy boosted his selection hopes for the men's sprint tournament at the London 2012 Games by winning the event at the World Cup here on Sunday.  Hoy, who is battling world champion and compatriot Jason Kenny for the sole sprint slot allocated to each nation at the Games, beat Germany's Maximilian Levy 2-0 in the final of this Olympic test event.

New Olympic rules mean only one rider per nation can compete in each of the five Olympic track cycling events, meaning there can be no repeat of Beijing when Scotland's Hoy took gold ahead of his English teammate.

That rule has given British team bosses one of several selection dilemmas ahead of the London Olympics. This is one they will hope to settle at the upcoming world championships in Melbourne. Six weeks away from that major rendez-vous, however, Hoy looks to have pulled ahead in the selection race. While the Scot proceeded to the final of the sprint with a 2-0 victory over Robert Forstemann, Kenny did not make it that far after suffering a 2-0 quarter-final defeat to the German's compatriot Maximilian Levy.

Kenny, who was recently awarded the world title in track's most coveted event after Frenchman Gregory Bauge was stripped of the 2011 title for a doping rule misdemeanour, admitted it wasn't what he had planned for this Olympic test event.

"It would have been nice to be in the semis and pushing for the medals... but Max is going quite well at the minute and did two rock solid rides against me. There's not a lot I could have done there," said Kenny.

"It's not as though I wasn't trying, I was a little bit hesitant and didn't do myself any favours in the race against Max."

Kenny, who beat Hoy in the semi-finals of last year's world championships, admitted he has had a slow start to his season. But after posting 10.153sec, his fastest 200m flying lap of the season, the Englishman insists he is not yet out of the picture.

Asked if this result would be affect his selection hopes, Kenny added: "I don't know. That race is kind of going on in the background, we just concentrate on getting faster. The worlds in Melbourne is obviously the main goal before the Olympics. I've been chasing times a little bit all year. That's the fastest 200 I've done this year by quite a margin so I'm pleased in that respect. I feel like I'm making some good steps forward and hopefully I'll be pushing all the way."

Hoy took the keirin gold here on Friday and will face Levy in the final later Sunday, having already dispatched Bauge 2-1 in a thrilling third leg decider in the semis. If successful in his selection bid, Hoy will have a chance at defending all three Olympic titles in the sprint, keirin and team sprint.

And Kenny admitted: "Chris is obviously on amazing form here, he's looking really strong. He did a good ride in the end against Bauge, slipped up a little bit in the first one and I think he just gets stronger and stronger throughout the day."

For background on the rivalry between these athletes and the sprint game in general read John Wilcockson's amazing piece: Battle of the Titans

Men Sprint Semi-finals
Chris Hoy (GBR) 10.577 and 10.293 bt Robert Forstemann (GER)
Maximilian Levy (GER) 10.510 and 10.472 bt Kevin Sireau (FRA)

Places 5-8 5. Jason Kenny (GBR), 6. Matthew Crampton (GBR), 7. Kazunari Watanabe (JPN), 8. Gregory Bauge (FRA)

Quarter-finals Chris Hoy (GBR) 10.380 and 10.424 bt Gregory Bauge (FRA) 10.416
Kevin Sireau (FRA) 10.407 and 10.309 bt Matthew Crampton (GBR)
Maximilian Levy (GER) 10.270 and 10.260 bt Jason Kenny (GBR)
Robert Forstemann (GER) 10.812 and 11.498 bt Kazunari Watanabe (JPN)