Sir Chris Hoy
Last Updated: 09/03/11 2:53pm
What can you say about Sir Chris Hoy that has not already been said? He is quite simply the greatest track cyclist of his generation and his long list of achievements stretches back over two decades.
He is the only British athlete since 1908 to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games, and in 2008 became the most successful Olympic cyclist of all time.
He burst onto the scene with a silver medal-winning performance in the team sprint at the 1999 World Championships and repeated that feat 12 months later in Antwerp before gaining another silver medal in his first Olympics in Sydney.
By the time the next Games rolled around, Hoy had added six further World Championship medals to his bulging palmarès, three of them gold, and had also taken home two medals from the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
In Athens he secured his first Olympic title by romping to victory in the 1km time trial, and that achievement earned him an MBE in the 2005 New Year Honours List.
Hoy's unbelievable form showed no signs of abating in the three years which followed and six further world titles were garnered in the sprint, team sprint, 1km time trial and keirin before his now legendary 2008 Olympics campaign.
It was in Beijing that the Scotsman won three Olympic gold medals in the space of four memorable days. The first came in the team sprint alongside Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff, and Hoy edged out team-mate Ross Edgar in the keirin final before completing his hat-trick against Kenny in the sprint.
Hoy was voted the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year for his accomplishments and then earned himself a knighthood in the 2009 New Year Honours list.
Although a hip injury robbed him of much of his 2008-09 campaign, Hoy got his 2009-10 season off to a flier by winning three national titles in Team Sky+ HD colours. He followed that up at the World Championships with a gold in the keirin and bronze in the team sprint.
The national team sprint title proved the perfect start to Hoy's 2010-11 season and his World Cup campaign also began encouragingly with two gold medals in the keirin and team sprint events in Melbourne.
In round two in Cali, the 34-year-old secured second-placed finishes in the sprint and team sprint events, and after deciding not to travel to Beijing, he bounced back with a bang in Manchester to win the men's keirin and take bronze medals in both the individual and team sprints.
With those in the bag, Hoy will now be looking to wrap up his season in style at the World Championships in Holland.
