Chris Hoy cheering Jason Kenny on to become Britain's most successful Olympian

Hoy and Kenny share the British record with six gold medals, but Kenny's decision to scrap retirement plans and take aim at the 2020 Games could see him move clear.

Hoy admits the record "has meant a lot" but he will still be cheering his friend on over the next three years.

"If you're going to lose a record like that, you want to lose it to a friend," Hoy said. "It's a nice way to do it.

"As time passes on, your time in the sun has gone and I don't want to look back. Records aren't important to me now. What's important is I achieved what I wanted to achieve in the sport and no one can take that away.

Hoy won his first gold in Athens in 2004, claimed three in Beijing four years later and overtook Sir Steve Redgrave with two golds in London in 2012.

Hoy joked he has been able to enjoy "a grandfathering period" as Kenny equalled but did not surpass his tally of six by winning three in Rio last year.

"If it had happened straight away it would have been tougher to deal with," he said. "But when I saw Jason winning in Rio, hand on heart, I was delighted for him, it was brilliant to see. I knew how hard he'd worked. He's one of my mates."

Hoy continues to take a close interest in the Great Britain team, and has been helping identify new talent for the women's program via the Discover Your Power campaign. But the challenges he sets himself these days are far away from the velodrome.

Earlier this month Hoy broke the world record for the number of donuts performed in a car in the space of 60 seconds, spinning a Caterham Seven 19 times at Donington Park.

His next major project will see him attempt to cycle across Antarctica, aiming to cover the 423 miles from the Amundsen coast to the South Pole and beat the current record of 10 days. The trip has been pushed back to next winter but Hoy remains keen to complete a truly once-in-a-lifetime trip.

"The South Pole is not somewhere you go on your holidays, it's not somewhere you'll go with work," he said. "To look back when you're an old man and think, 'Wow, I made it to the South Pole under my own steam', that would be pretty impressive.

"Since we started discussing it, I've been doing my homework. I'm watching videos and reading up on it. On my phone I've got the weather app. I've got Edinburgh, Cheshire, Manchester, and I've got the Antarctic.

"I've been following it and it's mental. It gets down to minus 55 with 100 mph winds. That's the winter though. In the summer it's only minus 25."

And if Hoy could break the record for travelling to the South Pole under human power, he would have found an entirely new way to be a step ahead of Kenny.

"Go on then, Jason," he said with a laugh. "You're next!"