SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Standing in the middle of the sweltering Olympic velodrome with his golden prize around his neck, Dutch track cyclist Harrie Lavreysen looked worried perhaps only once during the week.

“Wow, these medals are heavy,” said the 27-year-old to a din of reporters demanding to know exactly how he had achieved a hat-trick of titles in such tireless fashion.

Lavreysen had to fight hard against Australia’s Matthew Richardson in Sunday’s keirin final, but after stepping on the gas at the sound of the final-round bell, he was determined not to miss out on the only Olympic title he still needed in his collection.

The former BMX rider, nicknamed “The Beast,” had already led the Netherlands to gold in the team sprint and won the individual sprint – and in the process also broke the world record in the 200-meter flying race.

Sunday only underlined the fact that when it comes to speed fans on the track, he is in a league of his own.

“From the beginning I tried not to think too much about (gold), I just took it day by day,” Lavreysen, whose five Olympic gold medals are a record for a Dutch male athlete, told reporters.

“I put it in my bag to bring it here, but I thought it was better not to focus too much on the idea of ​​winning three times. Today I had to start over and not think about it (gold) because that would have driven me crazy.”

OLYMPIC SPORTS HAT TRICK

Lavreysen has emulated the Olympic hat-tricks of British sprint greats Chris Hoy (2008) and Jason Kenny (2016) and, if time is on his side, could surpass the latter’s record of seven gold medals in track cycling in Los Angeles in four years’ time.

“If he wants to go to Los Angeles, I feel sorry for the rest of the world,” Dutch team coach Mehdi Kordi said this week.

While Lavreysen could probably generate enough watts from his thighs to light up the Saint Quentin velodrome, his dominance is based on far more than just raw power, Kordi explains.

“Physically, he can keep the pace, a lot of people tire quite quickly in the second 100 metres of a sprint. His mental game, his concentration. He’s a control freak in the best sense of the word,” said the English coach.

“He wants to know every permutation and doesn’t like surprises. So it’s not just one thing (that makes him special), but obviously he’s got a lot of gas.”

All week, Lavreysen had outpaced everyone else nearby. Whatever they tried, it was in vain as an orange vortex of kinetic energy roared past them at over 70 km/h.

The Flying Dutchman said that he often just drives according to his “gut feeling”, but he added that his race preparations involve meticulous planning that borders on nerdiness.

“When I have considered all eventualities, I feel calm,” said Lavreysen. “As soon as I leave the track, everything I think about is about performance. I am already thinking about what will make me better the next day and I try not to do what feels good, but what is best.”

“I have nice Excel spreadsheets with all the races from the past years, I follow everything, so I can see very well what I did, how it felt,” he added.

The prospect of 13-time world champion Lavreysen getting even better does not bode well for his rivals, who will have to come up with a new formula to try and beat the Flying Dutchman.