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| proyears = 2008–Present
| proyears = 2008–Present
| proteams = Sky+ HD
| proteams = Sky+ HD
| majorwins = {{flagiconUCI}}World Championship, Kilo (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007)<br />{{flagiconUCI}}World Championship, Team Sprint (2002, 2005)<br />{{flagiconUCI}}World Championship, Keirin (2007, 2008)<br />{{flagiconUCI}}World Championship, Sprint (2008)<br />[[Image:Olympic flag.svg|border|26px]] 1km Time Trial (2004)<br />[[Image:Olympic flag.svg|border|26px]] Team Sprint (2008)
| majorwins =
| updated = 10 December 2008
| updated = 10 December 2008
| medaltemplates =
| medaltemplates =

Revision as of 18:04, 25 March 2009

Chris Hoy
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Andrew Hoy
NicknameThe Real McHoy[1], The Hoycanator
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight92 kg (203 lb; 14.5 st)[2]
Team information
DisciplineTrack
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Major wins
Template:FlagiconUCIWorld Championship, Kilo (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007)
Template:FlagiconUCIWorld Championship, Team Sprint (2002, 2005)
Template:FlagiconUCIWorld Championship, Keirin (2007, 2008)
Template:FlagiconUCIWorld Championship, Sprint (2008)
1km Time Trial (2004)
Team Sprint (2008)
Medal record
Track cycling
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Sprint
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team sprint
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Keirin
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 1 km time trial
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Team sprint
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Ballerup 1km time trial
Gold medal – first place 2002 Ballerup Team sprint
Gold medal – first place 2004 Melbourne 1km time trial
Gold medal – first place 2005 Los Angeles Team sprint
Gold medal – first place 2006 Bordeaux 1km time trial
Gold medal – first place 2007 Palma de Mallorca 1km time trial
Gold medal – first place 2007 Palma de Mallorca Keirin
Gold medal – first place 2008 Manchester Sprint
Gold medal – first place 2008 Manchester Keirin
Silver medal – second place 1999 Berlin Team sprint
Silver medal – second place 2000 Manchester Team sprint
Silver medal – second place 2006 Bordeaux Team Sprint
Silver medal – second place 2007 Palma de Mallorca Team Sprint
Silver medal – second place 2008 Manchester Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Antwerp Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Stuttgart Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Melbourne Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Los Angeles 1km time trial
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 1km time trial
Gold medal – first place 2006 Melbourne Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Manchester Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Melbourne 1km time trial

Sir Christopher Andrew "Chris" Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976 in Edinburgh) is a track cyclist representing Great Britain and Scotland. He is a multiple world champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner. With his three gold medals in Beijing 2008, Hoy became Scotland's most successful Olympian,[3] the first Briton to win three gold medals in a single Olympic games since Henry Taylor, in 1908, and the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time.

Early life

Hoy went to school at George Watson's College, an independent school in Edinburgh. He continued his studies at the University of St Andrews in 1996, before transferring to Moray House at the University of Edinburgh from where he graduated with a BSc (Hons) in sports science in 1999. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in July 2005 and another from Heriot-Watt University in November 2005.[4]

Hoy was inspired to cycle at age six by the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[5] Before track cycling, Hoy raced BMX between the ages of 7 and 14 and was ranked second in Britain, fifth in Europe and ninth in the world. He received sponsorship from Slazenger and Kwik-Fit and was competing in Europe and the US. Hoy also rowed for the Scottish junior team, coming second in the 1993 British championship with Grant Florence in the coxless pairs. He played rugby as part of his school's team.[4]

Hoy joined his first cycling club, Dunedin CC, in 1992 and began concentrating on track cycling in 1994, when he joined the City of Edinburgh Racing Club.[4].

Achievements

Hoy at the 2008 World Championships in Manchester.

1999–2007 career

The Kilo and the Team Sprint

Hoy's main events were the 1 km Time Trial, known as the Kilo, and the Team Sprint. It was in the Team Sprint that he collected his first World Championship medal, a Silver in 1999. This event involved the three riders, a simultaneous standing start, completing three laps of the 250 m track, with one rider taking the front for each lap and then dropping out. Hoy usually rides as the third man in this event, completing the closing lap. Regular team mates in the Team Sprint over the years have included Craig Maclean, Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff, Jason Queally, Matthew Crampton and Jason Kenny. The team's first World Title came in 2002, with Chris winning the Kilo title the same year. A medal has been achieved in the Team Sprint each year since at the World Championships, including a further Gold in 2005. The team's regular opponents in recent years have been the French team.

Hoy was also the world's best 1 km Time Trial rider for a number of years, before ceasing to ride the event when it was removed from the Olympic programme after the 2004 games. This is a raw power sprinting event, which involves the rider covering one kilometre (four laps) as fast as possible from a standing start. His first World Title came in this event in 2002, followed by further titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007. He won the event at the 2004 Olympics, his first Olympic title.

Post-2004 Olympics

Following the decision to remove the Kilo from the Olympic programme after the 2004 games, Chris sought to develop in other events.[6] The first of these was the Keirin, the event that replaced the Kilo on the Olympic programme. This event involves between six and eight riders following a small motorbike (the Derny) around the 250m track for 6.5 laps, as the bike slowly builds up the speed. The bike pulls off with 2.5 laps to go and it is an all out fight for the line. Chris had previously competed at the Keirin in various events but one of his first major successes was at the Manchester round of the World Cup Classics Series in 2007, shortly before the World Championships. His victory in this event carried forward into the World Championships and he came home first to take the title, ahead of team mate Ross Edgar.

This was a milestone for Hoy as it showed he was developing from just a pure power sprinter, in events like the Kilo and Team Sprint, into also being one of the best in the world at more tactical sprinting events like the Keirin[7] and the Sprint.

2007 World record attempt

On 12 May 2007, Hoy attempted the world record for the kilometre. He fell 0.005 seconds short, clocking 58.880. He set a record for the 500m flying start at 24.758 seconds, a second less than the 25.850 set by Arnaud Duble. Hoy set the sea-level kilometre record of 1 minute 0.711 seconds by winning the Olympics in Athens in 2004. The outright record of 58.875 seconds is held by Arnaud Tournant (France), set during 2001 at altitude in La Paz, Bolivia, where Hoy also attempted to break the record.[8]

Hoy's main achievement is his development in the individual sprint event considered to be the blue riband event of track cycling.[9] Kilo riders like Hoy have historically not fared as well at this event, as they were less experienced in the tactical elements required for the sprint. Previously, Hoy had competed in the sprint at various World Cup events and Revolution meetings in Manchester, but it was not one of his main events and he did not compete in it at the World Championships or the Olympics. In the semi finals Chris defeated Italian veteran Roberto Chiappa 2-0, to set up a meeting in the final against France's Kevin Sireau. Sireau was the World Cup Classics points winner for the season and had defeated Chris 2-0 in their previous meeting only a few weeks earlier. However with the vocal Manchester crowd behind him Chris was not to be denied victory and he completed the win 2-0, the first British man to win the sprint title in 52 years since Reg Harris.

2008 Olympics

Hoy became the first British Olympian for 100 years to claim three golds at one games at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This came when he won the men's keirin, the men's team sprint and also the men's individual sprint.[10]

The first gold came as a member of the three man team sprint squad which included Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff. Jason Kenny replaced Ross Edgar just before the games. They defeated the French by a clear margin, despite the French team's previous dominance of the event.

The keirin became Chris's second Gold medal of the 2008 games, when he came home clear winner ahead of team mate Ross Edgar.

Hoy reached the final round of the individual sprint without a glitch, where his opponent turned out to be his young team mate, Jason Kenny. Kenny was a junior world champion who had achieved a number of high placings. Hoy used his greater experience to defeat Kenny, completing his hat trick of Olympic titles.

2008/09 Track Season

Chris did not race at the first major event of the 2008/09 season, the World Cup Classics Event in Manchester on 31 October – 2 November. He instead made an appearance to sign autographs and commentate with the BBC. He made his return to racing in the UK at the sold out Revolution 22 event in Manchester in December. He received a standing ovation from the Manchester faithful at the start of the event when he was introduced to the crowd.[11] At this event won both the Sprint and Keirin competitions, defeating likes of Jason Kenny, Jamie Staff, Ross Edgar, Matthew Crampton and Teun Mulder along the way. Hoy competed in the World Cup Classics series' final event in Copenhagen, Denmark in February, helping his team to a gold medal in the team sprint event. However, he crashed out during the men's Keirin final and was forced to miss the final day of competition, including the men's sprint. Although he suffered bruises he escaped major injury.[12]. He was unable to compete as planned at the Revolution 24 event in Manchester the following weekend, he did however make an appearance at the event. He has had to pull out of the World Championships in Poland at the end of March, where he would have attempted to win 3 World titles, because of the hip injury.[13]

Honours

Hoy was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to cycling in the 2005 New Year Honours.[14]

On 26 November 2008, Hoy was named as Sportsman of the Year by the Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain, winning a ballot of its membership ahead of Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie.

On 14 December 2008, Hoy was also named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He finished ahead of Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington. Hoy became the second cyclist ever to win the award, and the first since Tommy Simpson in 1965.[15]

Hoy was gazetted a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours 2009.[16]

2012 Olympics

Hoy is an ambassador for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,[17] and the Scottish National Velodrome being built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is to be named in his honour.[10]

Personal life

Hoy moved out of his childhood home in 2000 into a flat just miles away from his parents. Hoy's girlfriend is Sarra Kemp, a 28-year-old lawyer from Edinburgh[18] and they now live in Salford, Greater Manchester, close to the National Cycle Centre's velodrome. [19]

Chris supports Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Bibliography

Hoy is the subject of a book by Richard Moore, Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain's Track Cycling Revolution, published in June 2008 by Harper Collins. (ISBN 9780007265312)

Chris has also stated he is currently working on his autobiography, due to the published later in 2009.

Because of his success at the Beijing Olympics 2008, a velodrome being built in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Olympics 2014 will be named after him.

Medal History

World Championships
  • 1999 - Team sprint
  • 2000 - Team sprint
  • 2001 - Team sprint
  • 2002 - 1km time trial; Team sprint
  • 2003 - Team sprint
  • 2004 - 1km time trial; Team sprint
  • 2005 - Team sprint; 1km time trial
  • 2006 - 1km time trial; Team sprint
  • 2007 - keirin; 1km time trial; Team sprint
  • 2008 - Sprint; Keirin; Team sprint
Olympic Games
Commonwealth Games
Special awards

References

  1. ^ Neil Wilson (28 March 2008). "Real McHoy sprints to his golden grand slam". Mail Online.
  2. ^ a b "Athlete Biography - HOY Chris". Beijing Olympics official website.
  3. ^ "Chris Hoy is on course to become Scotland's greatest Olympian". The Scotsman. 15 August 2008.
  4. ^ a b c "Biography". chrishoy.com.
  5. ^ Deborah Charles (2008-08-19). "E.T. fan Hoy is out of this world". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  6. ^ "Inspiration – Heroes: Chris Hoy, cyclist". BBC Wales. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  7. ^ "Confident Hoy Right On Track". Eurosport. 2008-03-25.
  8. ^ Jill Douglas (13 May 2007). "Hoy sets new world best over 500m". BBC Sport.
  9. ^ William Fotheringham (2008-08-20). "Olympics: Impenetrable Hoy joins greats after sprinting to third gold". The Guardian.
  10. ^ a b "Velodrome honour for golden Hoy". BBC Sport. 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  11. ^ "Hoy resolute after strong return". BBC Sport. 2008-12-08.
  12. ^ [hhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/7890768.stm "Crash ends keirin hopes for Hoy"]. BBC Sport. 2009-02-15.
  13. ^ "Hoy to miss World Championships". BBC News. Retrieved 7 March 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "No. 57509". The London Gazette. 31 December 2004.
  15. ^ "Sports Personality 2008: Hoy wins Sports Personality of the Year". BBC. 2008-12-14. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  16. ^ "No. 58929". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 31 December 2008. {{cite magazine}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Chris Hoy. Track cyclist". BT Plc.
  18. ^ "Mail Online news". Mail Online.
  19. ^ Norwood, Graham. "Golden opportunity: Join Chris Hoy as he makes a dash for the Brazilian coast". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 January 2009.

See also


Template:Persondata

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