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Hoy believes that Great Britain's spectacular cycling performance at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics was due
to the investment in cycling and the excellent infrastructure of the sport in the United Kingdom.
Chris Hoy Interview on
Winning the Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
Q: Did you realize the enormity of your achievement?
Not at the time. I was really focused on the event itself and just trying not to let any distractions
creep in, but after the event people were telling me it was the first triple gold medalist from the same
Games from a British athlete for 100 years.
It’s crazy; these are the things of dreams. For it to come together just at the right time it was fantastic.
Q: How does it feel to win three Olympic gold medals?
Every gold medal is special. The Olympics is a unique event, it’s the one that everybody wants to win,
it’s the pinnacle of any athletes’ career and every time you step up onto that podium, even if it’s a gold,
silver or bronze it doesn’t matter what medal it is, it means a hell of a lot.
You can’t put it into words the feeling you get when all the hard work, all the sacrifice and everything you
gone through, you suddenly realize its worthwhile and you hear the national anthem, you see the flag go up,
family and friends in the crowd. It’s what you always dream of.
Q: Tell me about your training
To be honest I just enjoy the training, I enjoy what I do, obviously I do it because I want to be the best in
the world that’s my drive, my focus but I actually enjoy the procedure of training and enjoy setting myself
targets working hard in a day and at the end of the day taking a very small step towards my overall goal.
You know it’s not just about the winning its about the taking part.
Q: Team spirit
When I first rode for Great Britain in 1996, they gave me a tracksuit top on loan for World Championships,
you gave it back at the end of the Championships, you had your own bike, they gave you a set of wheels.
It was just done on a shoe string budget. From those days when the lottery funding came on board things
became more professional and now everybody on the team whether you’re a mechanic, a rider, a physiotherapist
whatever your job is, your aim is to be the best in the world and we got a support staff that the rest of
the world are really envious of.
Q: Team Great Britain has been awesome in cycling at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
Once you start winning, once the team starts winning, it becomes infectious and its crazy to think we [Great Britain]
got seven out of 10 available gold medals on the track which you kind of know it’s possible but until you get up
there and realize this is crazy, to win almost all the gold medals that are available it’s fantastic.
Q: What about the 2012 London Summer Olympics?
You can keep going as long as you have the motivation and personally I’m really driven to have the
opportunity to have a home Olympic Games and to win a gold medal in front of a home crowd that’s a huge
thing for me. l’m 36 in London, no reason why I can’t win a gold medal there, the Spanish rider Joan
LLaneris he won a gold medal here in the points race, he is 39 so you know as they say ‘Impossible is Nothing.’
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