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EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Sir Chris Hoy: “I don’t expect us to win as many medals at Rio Olympics as we did in London.”
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The Rio Olympics are just around the corner, but for the first time since Sydney 2000, the British team will go into a summer games without Sir Chris Hoy.
With six Gold medals, Sir Chris is the most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time. Scotland’s greatest ever Olympian, not to mention being the first Brit to win three gold medals in a single Olympics since 1908, and Britain’s highest ever overall medal winner. Who better then, to talk to about British Cycling’s medal chances in 2016?
London 2012 only seems like yesterday…
It’s weird, so weird. It was the Olympics and now it’s the Olympics again. Four years has passed so quickly.
Over the last few Olympics, cycling has been one of Great Britain’s strongest events – are we going to be able to repeat that in Rio without people like you and Victoria Pendleton in the team?
I think in comparison to any other sport and any other country we still have an incredibly strong team.
We’ve come to expect success, but compared to London and Beijing it would be unfair to expect the same level of success. We did win 70% of the medals, which is really unusual.
Even though I’ve retired I’m close enough to the team to hear about form and hear about morale and I think we’re going to do really well. I’d say three Gold medals on the track and then we’ll maybe pick up another couple over the hills.
It not impossible we could do as well as we did in London and Beijing, but don’t expect it. But any other team would kill for winning 50% of the medals on offer. We’ve still got amazing talent and skill in the team.
Who are your tips for British medals?
Laura Trott is such an established star in the team that you can forget how young she is. She has a really good chance in the Omnium and the team pursuit.
In terms of people who weren’t at London - in the Men’s Pursuit you’ve got guys like Owain Doull and John Dibben, and Katie Archibald in the Women’s Pursuit has been a great addition to the team.
Katie is going to be a real star of the future, and I’m not just saying that because she’s Scottish!
You look like you’re still in pretty good condition. Is there not part of you that thinks about coming out of retirement for one last shot at Olympic gold?
I can get close to the top, but it’s the last fractions between being close and being there that are the hardest. I could still race and still be competitive, but in terms of winning medals at the highest level you have to accept you have a shelf-life, and I recognised that after London.
It was nice to go out on top and let the next generation start their journey. It’s not to say I don’t miss it. I still go out on my bike and train at pretty much the same level. You do think to yourself, “I wonder if…” but that’s natural.
Where do you think the big challenge for Team GB is going to come from?
The Aussies have always had strength in depth, they’ll be up there. But some of the smaller nations have really come through in individual disciplines. In the Sprint, the Dutch and the Kiwis have really come on and have some really strong riders. They’ll be challenging. And the French and the Germans are always strong.
You won medals at four Olympics – is there one particular medal you look back on most fondly?
Without question Athens, because it was the first time I became Olympic Champion, and because the nature of the event, the Sprint.
It’s a single, one-off ride. No heats. No qualification. Just one chance. Everyone else had finished so I was last to go, so all that pressure, all that atmosphere…to win the Gold and to break the Olympic record was just incredible.
I never thought anything could top that…until London. To win my sixth Gold at home. That was one hell of a way to finish my career.
So now you’ve turned your handlebars towards writing, what can you tell us a little about Flying Fergus?
Flying Fergus will be a series of five books and we’re just about to publish the first two.
Fergus is a young lad with a dog called Chip who is mad about bikes. He’s hoping for a fancy bike for his birthday and is disappointed to get a rusty old bike, which used to belong to his Dad. But his Grandpa fixes it up and his journey starts there. It’s about where the bike can take him.
I want to inspire kids to ride bikes and enjoy reading, and I’m looking forward to hearing feedback from kids and seeing what they think of it.
Meeting kids in schools and chatting to younger riders I wanted, without getting too preachy, to pass on the lessons I’ve learned from cycling and from life. In this culture of instant success the message of hard work can often get lost.
Above all else it’s just a really fun thing to do, completely different from anything I’ve done before. Hopefully it’ll inspire kids to ride bikes.
Finally, do you feel at all responsible for the rise of paunchy blokes in Lycra wheezing down the road on bikes too fancy for their level of cycling ability?
That’s pretty much me now!
It’s clearly on the back of success of people like the Olympic team, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome. It’s lovely to think that you’ve inspired people. It’s amazing, really, how the sport has come on and how it’s become mainstream.
These men in Lycra with large midriffs, you have to think how much bigger that midriff was six months ago or a year ago. It’s great to see people taking care of themselves and trying to get fitter. Even if they do look a bit rotund they’re probably less rotund than they were a while ago.
