Jason Kenny's tenure as Olympic sprint champion, having won gold in this event in London and Rio, came to an end at the Tokyo Olympics after he was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage on Thursday.

The Briton was defeated 2-0 in the quarterfinals by Harry Lavrason of the Netherlands. Kenny had already shown signs of struggle in the opening round, where he qualified eighth, and then lost to Denis Dmitriev (Russian Olympic Committee) in the 1/8 finals.

Kenny won the repechage sprint and was back in contention, only to lose badly to Lavrason in the quarterfinals. However, he lost to Lavraysson in the quarterfinals and finished fifth.

"It was really tough. It's frustrating, but I don't have a crazy ego that can't accept not being the best in the world every day," Kenny told Eurosport after the competition.

"That's the way it is. I'm not where I want to be and I'm not competitive. You have to accept that. But it didn't happen today. But it didn't happen today."

Kenny admitted that his chances of defending his title were diminished when he was forced to participate in an additional sprint in the repa-charge.

"After losing to Dmitriev it was tough. Repechage was really tough. 'After that it was always tough. That's the way it is. Physically I'm at the right place right now."

Kenny won silver in the team sprint earlier this week, joining Bradley Wiggins as Britain's most decorated Olympian. However, the British trio lost to the Netherlands in the team sprint final, and the Dutch dominance continued in the individual events. Lavrason and Jeffrey Hoogland will compete in Friday's final four, with Jack Carlin representing Great Britain.

Kenny said of the Dutch sprint team, "They are getting easier and easier. But I'm the defending champion and I've fought my way through to represent. I took it away from the other countries to get this spot. So I was determined to fight to the end. That's what I'm capable of today."

Kenny will return to the track in the men's keirin on Saturday, looking to defend the title he won five years ago in Rio in both the team and individual sprint gold medals, and the 33-year-old expressed hope for a rest day before facing Lavraysson and others again.

"Tomorrow is a rest day, so I'm hoping they'll ring 10 bells against each other in the sprint final and give us half a chance in the Keirin," Kenny said.