Fellow Scot Ross Edgar followed him over the line to take silver and prove that when an immovable object combines with irresistible force all that is left to fight for is bronze.

"Incredible," was how Hoy described it. But breathtaking, emphatic, classy, powerful, exciting, any one of them would have been apt.

Hoy was the irresistible force as he burned up the track with a blistering turn of pace, which left his opponents stranded. Edgar was the immovable object, fending off the challenge of Australia's Shane Kelly to make it a British one-two.

"I knew if I went very early then there was a chance I could be caught on the line," Hoy said of his break for the line, "so I left it a little bit later, but when I launched it I just went with everything I had and made sure I emptied the tanks, kept my head down and didn't look back. All the way along the home straight I was thinking about the finishing line and nothing else and when I got there it was just an unbelievable feeling. Incredible."

The victory takes the 32-year-old from Edinburgh ahead of Rodney Pattison in the list of all-time Scottish greats, the sailor managing just two golds and a silver. Following less than 24 hours after he anchored Great Britain to gold in the team sprint, the way he dominated the event was astounding. From the qualifying, through the first and second rounds, no-one came close to challenging him and when it came to the final, the second he made the break there was no doubting his triumph.

"They are all special," he said when asked how the keirin gold compared with the team one. "They are all different and you try to focus on one thing at a time when you have more than one event. I wasn't thinking about the keirin until this morning and it's been an eventful day with so many things, you just try to block it all out and focus on your ride and your own performance and that's what I did. To finish with one-two on the podium is just unbelievable."

With Britain taking another gold and two bronzes, Hoy said he couldn't afford himself the luxury of soaking it all up.

"When we are doing well, it is infectious, but at the same time you have got to try to stay focused and not get overexcited about it all. We kind of expected to do well and knew medals were possible. We knew the form everyone has been in and if you get in the team then you are going to be a realistic medal chance and that's just the way it is.

"But you can't get too drawn into it or excited. Bradley (Wiggins] was up for his podium just before the keirin final and I didn't look at him or the flag because I didn't want to get too drawn in or see the emotion in his face because I knew that would set me off so I was just trying to show respect by standing up while the ceremony was going on but at the same time I was trying to block it out my mind as much as possible. I had my own final to focus on - nothing else outside that. That's what I always try to do and it seems to work." And as far as Edgar was concerned, only a fool would bet against Hoy completing his Olympic treble.

"The French will try to stop him but Chris is very motivated. That was Chris at his best tonight and on that form it's definitely doable. Do I think he'll do it? I reckon he will."

Dutchman Theo Bos will be desperate to salvage something from his Olympics after quite literally crashing out in the second round of the keirin. Bur Hoy says he doesn't worry about what others are doing.

"I'm not worried about anybody else. Because I know I can beat them. If I start thinking about my rivals I'm not thinking about my own ride."

He may not be worrying about others. As far as other nations are concerned, in the keirin at least, bronze is now their new gold.