2014 Commonwealth Games: Sir Chris Hoy excited as baton relay begins ahead of Glasgow
Sir Chris Hoy believes that the start of the baton relay marks the 'final run in' before the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Last Updated: 09/10/13 11:08am
The six-time Olympic champion is an ambassador for the Games in his home country and is thrilled by the level of interest and excitement shown by the people of Scotland with months still to go before the baton arrives in Glasgow and the Games begin.
Whilst Hoy confesses he would have loved to have competed at the Games, he believes it would have been a bridge too far for him to challenge for the top prizes.
"Obviously, I would have loved to have been there, it would have been the dream end to my career, but you have to be realistic and your body can only keep going for so long at the very highest level," he told Sky Sports.
"It wasn't easy getting to London in shape and you know, there's so many things that happen in the background that the general public don't see. Day to day, the injuries, the setbacks, the losses of form so you know it was a struggle but I got to London and thankfully it was a successful Games.
"I think it would have been a step too far for Glasgow, I'd rather be there to just enjoy the Games, to see them first hand, to see more of the sports then you do as a competitor and to be an ambassador for the Games too."
Despite the absence of the cycling legend, there has been incredible interest in the Games and Hoy admits that the reality is really start to set in now.
Excitement
"It does (make it all seem very real), to see that we're going to be launching the Queen's baton today and it's going to be making its way around the Commonwealth, eventually ending up in Glasgow next year, this is really the start of the final run in," he continued.
"There's been so much interest, it's been massive - not just from the tickets but from the volunteers. 50,000 people volunteered for the 15,000 places so (there is) so much interest, so much excitement and it's really getting close now.
"I think not just for the athletes who are in the middle of their seasons, in the middle of their training preparing for it but everybody, for the people of Glasgow and Scotland, it's a very exciting time."
Glasgow received an added boost recently as Usain Bolt hinted that he was likely to compete at the Games next year and Hoy says it would be brilliant to see the record-breaking sprinter in Scotland.
"It's great to get an athlete of the magnitude, of the scale, both physically and metaphorically speaking, of Usain Bolt - he's huge.
"To have him as the main star of the show would be fantastic, but the Games are bigger than one athlete alone so whether he comes or not it's still going to be a fantastic event. But, it would be great to see Usain competing."