Pet ducks called Cheese and Quackers are the latest additions to the growing household of cycling greats Jason and Laura Kenny as they continue to glide towards next year's Tokyo Olympics.
The champion couple, who welcomed their young son Albie 21 months ago, are planning to reap a rich harvest in the Japanese capital after adopting an increasingly green-fingered approach to life away from the sport.
Six-times gold medallist Jason, who needs one more to surpass the all-time record he currently shares with Sir Chris Hoy, will be part of the Great Britain squad at this month's European Games in Minsk.
Kenny, who has previously been reluctant to reveal details of his life away from the track, told Press Association Sport: "We rented a field last year and chucked a few spuds in and it went from there.
"We tried some cabbages but something came and ate them, and I also planned to put some kale in but then we moved house. I don't want to grow anything fancy that I wouldn't know what to do with.
"We've also got a little pond in our garden and we were trying to woo ducks in. We put a floating duck coup in but no ducks came, so Laura lost patience and went and got a couple of rescue ducks that had their wings clipped so they couldn't fly away.
"The two that Laura got are called Cheese and Quackers. We did actually get an egg so we put it in the fridge because we thought we'd get more and make scrambled eggs, but she never laid another one so it went off in the fridge."
Kenny's hopes of making a splash at his fourth Games in Tokyo will be boosted by a good performance in Minsk after what has been a relatively testing season for the Great Britain cycling squad.
After under-performing as a whole at the World Championships in Poland earlier this year, expectations around the squad are the lowest they have been for some time.
But Kenny, who has repeatedly insisted he is not concerned with the history-making possibilities of Japan, is convinced his external interests – centred around 21-month-old Albie – can keep the rest of his career in perspective.
"It can get a bit more stressful around competitions but it's still business as usual when we get home now and we don't talk about cycling that much at all," added Kenny.
"We just enjoy spending as much time as we can with Albie – and our ducks!"
