Chris Hoy Ready to Defend Olympic Dream
Story posted July 22
By Larry Hickmott
Scotland's 
Chris Hoy MBE is one of two defending Olympic champions in the Great Britain Cycling Team with the other being Bradley Wiggins. Unlike Bradley though, Chris has had to come back from a massive set back when the International Olympic Committee decided to take his event, the Kilometre, away from him and the Games, and Chris has had to find a new event to defend that Olympic title in.
This he has done in spectacular style and Chris goes into the 2008 Olympics as the defending World champion in two events (Sprint and Keirin) and a Silver medallist in another (Team Sprint) which are all Olympic events. Chris Hoy has quite simply, become a fantastic all round sprinter since Athens 2004 and has a record second to none.
Right: Chris is never one to hold anything back, even when he celebrates!
Once upon a time, the other teams would look upon the GB riders as great against the watch but not so hot in the other events like the Sprint or Keirin. Over the years though the team has seen riders like Jamie Staff win the Keirin title (2004) and Craig MacLean get a Silver in the Men’s Sprint. Chris Hoy though has taken their achievements to a new level and has now won the Keirin title twice and the Sprint title as well to add to his numerous title wins in the Kilometre and Team Sprint.
His victories in the Sprint and Keirin and very significant. Unlike the timed events like the Team Sprint and Kilo, there are so many more variables in the Keirin and Sprint and these are seriously difficult events to win especially with the French having such a mega strong team.
During the World Track Championships at Manchester 2008, there were many great races but there were those that really shook you to the core, ones that were literally unbelievable and Chris Hoy’s win in the Sprint competition was one of those. It was stunning. Better than stunning. In fact, what superlative can be used to describe it? None I know of seem worthy.
Chris had won the Keirin before and in World Track Cups had dominated the race so his victory in that event at the World Championships came as no surprise even though it was far from an easy victory against such a class field. The Sprint though was special with a capital S. One of those all time great sporting moments.
But, that was the Worlds and now its all about the Olympics and the pressure is back on. As already mentioned, Chris has had to find a new event to chase Gold in since his Kilo was cut from the Olympic programme. A nonsensical decision but there you go – its done and Chris goes on and takes his fight to other events.
The Worlds 2008 -- the Sprint. A moment in history, a very very special moment not just for Chris but everyone who was watching.
Competition for Places
That fight for the Olympics started in Manchester recently during training and selection in the sprint team for Beijing. There were four spots on offer but seven or more riders vying for them and everyone has had to raise their game just to get selected.
“It has been tough for everybody” Chris explained. “We have all been through the highs and lows and the emotions of when you have good form and you think you are secure, and then not so secure when you don’t have good form . It has been the same for everybody.”
“When you get a strong team like the French, the Aussies etc, this is one of the downsides to it. The upside is that the very very best come out on top and you get an exceptional time on the night that counts for something.”
Unlike riders such as Mark Cavendish, Steven Cummings and so on who can choose to fulfil a career on the road if the track doesn’t work for them, for Track Sprinters, the Olympics is always a major goal, their meal ticket and their living as Chris Hoy agrees.
“The Olympics is the pinnacle for us. Particularly for the those guys focused on only the Team Sprint. Guys like Jason Queally who have ridden nothing but Team Sprint since the kilo was dropped. The selection period is a bit of an emotional time for everybody. This could be the end of some guys competitive international careers and yet there is very little between us all”.
“Jamie claimed that first spot by right and he has really raised the bar and the foundation for the Team Sprint is based on that. Since then its been about finding the second and third riders to finish it off in the Team Sprint. Even my place in the Team Sprint is not secure. I have a place in the Olympic team through my individual world titles but that doesn’t mean I’ll ride the Team Sprint. I could end up being the fourth man”.
Talking further on the selection process that the selection panel have had to go through, and the data they base their decisions on, Chris explained “the Team Sprint is such a difficult event to analyse as well. Individual laps from riders can depend on what has happened before their lap like the lead-in speed for instance. With the tools we have now, we can analyse things very carefully and they have made it easier to select riders.”
“That is why we have faith in the sports analysts here to look at the data and to come up with the best possible combination.”
Chris and Jason Queally, rivals at the Commonwealth Games but teammates at Manchester for GB.
Four Years is a Long Time in Sport
Since Sydney 2000, the Great Britain Cycling team has continued to evolve and strengthen itself and with that, had more success and found some new stars and made even bigger stars out of the old guard. Chris Hoy is part of that old guard having been representing the country for a decade or more.
Chris explained that some of the biggest changes though have come in the last four years since winning an Olympic title. “First of all, post Athens Olympics, I had to deal with the changes in my life. Up until that point you are just a cyclist who gets up, has your breakfast, rides your bike and so on and it was very simple life with very few distractions.”
“Post Olympics you have this massive increase in media attention and the obligations to sponsors which have been fantastic. I have done stuff I would never have had the opportunity to do otherwise. It is however an additional pressure and you have to remind yourself you are a cyclist and that is what you have to do.”
“So initially, there was a change in lifestyle and then came the dropping of the Kilo which was a massive set back personally.”
“I had to find a way to keep myself motivated and come up with a new target for Beijing. Originally it was just going to be the Team Sprint whilst the Sprint and Keirin were going to be additional events used to help my performance for the Team event.”
“But now I find myself going into the next Olympics as the defending champion in two individual events. If you had told me this would be the case years ago I would not have believed you – in fact I’d have laughed at you!”
“In the last four years, it is more my mental outlook that has changed. I still train as hard as ever have and put myself through the same physical pain I did for the Kilo and that has definitely kept in me good stead. I firmly believe I could not have trained harder and know I will be in the best possible shape baring illness or injury. That gives you confidence because it takes pressure off yourself, its out of your hands then and I just have to go out and do my best.
“If I beat the other guys, then great, then so be it but I know I have no control over what they do and what level they are at”.
“So the physical side is great – the biggest change has come in the mental side. The help I get from Jan, Iain, Scott, and Shane is the best in the world and is the fundamental difference for me since Athens 2004. I have now got a different approach to my racing, a mental strength which gives me the belief I need when I go on to the track that I can beat anyone.”
Final Touches
In the past, the training for Chris would be done in the Manchester Velodrome where he and the team would continue their normal routine week in, week out. A relentless job just like the one we all have, same place, same tasks, different day. Chris though has had to change that regime slightly and his ‘training’ now includes a few racing trips to Europe.
“I raced in Cottbus (Germany) recently” he told us “and that was the first racing I had done since the Worlds. It’s important for me to race now. For the Kilo you can prepare by training and don’t need race preparation, but for the Sprint and Keirin you need to race”.
“You don’t want too much of it however as its always a bit risky but it does help you to stay sharp and help you hone that racing mentality you need for the Sprint and Keirin. Keep you in that competitive frame of mind.”
Whilst a lot of athletes will avoid travelling too much during this crucial period, Chris explained that for the few events he is doing that it hasn’t had a negative effect on his training. “The travel is not too bad and I don’t break my training for it. I don’t go into these races fresh so that takes pressure off you because if you don’t perform, you know there are reasons for it.”
If anyone can put themselves into a box in training, it is Chris Hoy pictured here training for the World Record attempt.
“Of course, you don’t want to go there and bomb out because you want to make the most from it but you don’t have to win to get a lot out of it. Okay, I won in Cottbus but I could have still had a great experience even if I had gone out in an earlier round.”
“The preparation for these Olympics has gone better than ever. Right now, even with six weeks to go, I am going better than I have ever gone before. I did a time this week on spoke wheels which I have never got near before on non aero kit. I feel like I am coming into form even though I haven’t backed off yet and I am still doing a fairly high volume of training.”
Chris has also learnt a few things over the past few years which have helped him prepare and taper for an event. Like when he needs to stop his gym work. “I used to go within a week of the championships and then stop the gym work but through trial and error you learn what works. Before the Bolivia world record attempt (2007), I had the highest power outputs I had ever had and I learnt a lot from that period and when I need to stop doing my gym work.”
“I think when I freshen up and really do some proper speed work after the turbo sessions and the intervals finish, I will really start to feel the benefit of that and reach a new level.”
The Road to Beijing Getting Ever Shorter
Chris admits that the Olympics does creep up on athletes. “You start to see things in the paper like a countdown of how many days there are to go and you get a release of adrenalin. Our events are in the second week so when we arrive in Beijing, the Olympics will be starting in a few days time, and that is when it will hit home”.
Asked what he’ll be doing in the holding camp before they fly to Beijing, Chris explained it is where they start their taper for the big event. It is also where they get away from things. “The significance of it is that it takes you away from the distractions of being at home. No matter how focused you are, there are always distractions at home like paying bills, emails, phone calls, shopping.”
“In order to rest optimally you need to be in the training environment where you are eating at regular times and not having to cook for yourself and that sort of thing. Just being together as a team, you are getting that buzz of getting ready for that special occasion.”
It is Chris says, a gentle way of getting into the swing of being in the Olympic village. “You are institutionalised when you get to the village and it is very hard to live the life you want to. It’s very controlled and hard to switch off because it is all around you -- video screens, people in track suits -- where ever you go, the Olympics are in your face.”
“I think it is important to have the experience of previous games so you come into it knowing what to expect and are not fazed by it. You can then use it as a motivational tool for the competition ahead.”
The Pressure of the Olympics
Chris says that while every World Track Cup and World Championship for the last four years has been important, and there have been some real highs, it is all about the Olympics.
“It is a special event and the pressures are unique” he says. “The big test for any athlete is to perform under that pressure, to be able step up when it counts -- no excuses, no second chances, this is it”.
“Personally, I draw upon my experiences from Athens to give me the confidence that know no matter what comes my way, I have dealt with this pressure in the past and I can do it again. I have only been to two Olympics (Sydney and Athens) but there is a special atmosphere when you walk in to the Olympic arena on the day, this tension, this thing that tells you ‘this is what it is all about. It’s a mixture of exhilaration and sheer terror”.
Three Events—Three Medal Chances
Back in Sydney 2000, the medal for Chris came in the Team Sprint and that was the event he was going to target in Athens 2004. “In Athens, the Kilo was my first event, so it was the one I was thinking about even though the Team Sprint was just as important.”
“The Team Sprint had been the focus for me but the Kilo suddenly took a positive turn after the Worlds in Melbourne (Chris was champion) because at the start of the year, I was ranked fourth in the World, morale wasn’t great and there was competition to get in the Team Sprint from Jason, Craig and Jamie. That focus shifted slightly after Melbourne but it was still going to be a double pronged thing, the Team Sprint and Kilo.”
2004 Athens Olympics -- Next stop Beijing 2008.
Talking about the three events he is expecting to ride in Beijing, he explains “I think the Team Sprint is a good one to start with as its very controlled and you know what is going to happen. The other two events are less controlled, less predictable about what is going to happen, so to have the Team Sprint first is a really good way to start off.”
“Potentially it could be the best chance of a Gold medal – we just don’t know. I am intending to take each day as it comes and each round of an event as it comes. I won’t be thinking ahead but instead taking everything one step at a time.”
The fly in the ointment for the riders used to the format of races at World Track Cups and World Track Championships is that at the Olympics, things are done differently.
“It’s another thing you have to factor into the preparation” Chris explained. “Because the Team Sprint is three rides, its different to any other championship and the Sprint is over three days which is unusual. In all I have five days of racing but I am confident my endurance will hold out.”
SPRINT EVENT PROGRAMME FOR MEN
Friday 15th August
Men's Team Sprint Qual
Men's Team Sprint Rd 1
Men's Team Sprint Final
Saturday 16th August
Men's Keirin Round 1
Men's Keirin Repechage
Men's Keirin Round 2
Men's Keirin Final
Sunday 17th August
Men's Sprint Qual
Men's Sprint 1/16 Final
Men's Sprint 1/8 Final
Monday 18th August
Men's Sprint QF Heat 1
Tuesday 19th August
Men's Sprint SF
Men's Sprint Final
“The World Track Championships were tough and by the time I got to the final in the Keirin, I was starting to feel it and my legs were stinging somewhat before I unleashed it (his sprint) but at that stage, you just have to remind yourself everyone else is tired and its about who wants it most and go deeper.”
And is Chris hungry for more Olympic Gold after already having been an Olympic Champion? “Very much so” he replies. “I think once you have achieved it, tasted it, you want more and what ever happens, Beijing is not going to be the end of my career either as I will be fighting all the way to London to finish my career there.”
RELATED LINKS
Readers are reminded if they want to learn more, they can get the book, Heroes, Villians and Velodromes and learn much more about his career. Find out more
Chris Hoys BBC Blog 2
Chris Hoys BBC Blog 1
Independent Article on Chris Hoy
