Who is Chris Hoy

11th June 2009

OLYMPIC hero Chris Hoy collects his knighthood from Buckingham Palace on same day his mum picked up an MBE for services to nursing.

Proud Chris said: "It's just such an amazing thing to happen to her because she's worked so hard all her life."

Double gold medallist cyclist Bradley Wiggins picked up his CBE while team mates Victoria Pendleton and Jason Kenny collected their MBEs.

Photograph: David Davies/PA

Chris Hoy was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in a result that surprised many who had expected Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington or formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton to win. In the end they were third and second respectively.

Outside the Liverpool Echo Arena, a characterless barn on the banks of the Mersey, it was a cold, grey December evening. But inside 9,000 spectators who had became overnight experts on the keirin and the Yngling and a glittering parade of medal winners gathered to relive memories of a golden summer.

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year award never fails to provoke debate, but in a year that boasted Britain's best Olympics since 1908 and the youngest ever formula one champion in Lewis Hamilton all talk focused on the impossibility of choosing a winner rather than the paucity of the shortlist. In those categories decided before last night's vote for the overall winner, Olympians dominated. In any other year, a British team winning the Champions League might have expected to pick up the team of the year prize.

But in a reflection of the buzz outside the arena, it was not Manchester ­United's well remunerated stars who were named team of the year but the British Olympic cycling team.

The dominance of the team that took home 14 medals from Beijing, including eight golds, was also reflected in nominations for four of their number for the main prize.

David Brailsford, the British cycling director of performance whose singleminded strategy drove the team to new heights at the Olympics and Paralympics, won the coach of the year award.

Owen Gibson, Guardian sports news correspondent

Hoy went to school at George Watson's College, an independent school in Edinburgh. He continued 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.

Hoy was inspired to cycle aged six by the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Before track cycling, Hoy raced BMX between the ages of 7 and 14 and was ranked 2nd in Britain, 5th in Europe and 9th 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 also played rugby as part of his school's team.

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.

Hoy was made an MBE for services to cycling in the 2005 New Year's Honours List. Much like fellow British Athlete Rebecca Adlington, due to his success at the 2008 Olympic games winning 3 gold medals, he too has been suggested as a contender for Knighthood upon retirement.

• 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.

Hoy is an ambassador for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and the Scottish National Velodrome being built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is to be named in Chris Hoy's honour.

Hoy became the first British Olympian for 100 years to claim three golds at one games at the 2008 Bejing games. This came when he won the men's keirin, the men's team sprint (with Jason Kenny & Jamie Staff) and also the men's individual sprint.

TRIPLE Olympic champion Chris Hoy is to be honoured by having a new national cycling stadium named after him. Glasgow City Council said the velodrome to be built in the city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games would be named in his honour.

Council leader Steven Purcell said: "Chris's performances at the Beijing Olympics were simply outstanding and he deserves every recognition.

"I can think of no better way of marking his historic success than by naming Scotland's only world-class track cycling facility after him."

"With luck he will continue his sporting domination before a home crowd in 2014, with his name on the walls of the velodrome."

The velodrome to be built in the east end of the city will be a new home for Scottish cycling and will host all the track cycling events during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

It will have 4,000 seats during the games, reducing to 2,500 afterwards.

Hoy got the better of team-mate Jason Kenny, who added the silver medal to the gold he won in the team sprint.

The Scot said: "It's the most unbelievable feeling. You cross the line and all the pressure and expectation evaporates and it's like nothing else you've ever felt."

"It's about the process and the performance, breaking it down to the technical elements."

"That's why the emotions come out at the end, it just erupts out of you. As a team we've gone well beyond what was expected."

"It's 15/20 years of absolute dedication, leaving no stone unturned, focusing on everything, setting goals and chasing them all the time.

"He just doesn't let go," said Jason Kenny, his team mate.