Sir Chris Hoy: ‘I thought nothing could top Beijing’
Sir Chris Hoy tells Channel 4 News that winning two golds in London to become the country’s most successful Olympian has been “phenomenal” and that he is proud to be both British and Scottish.
Sir Chris told Channel 4 News that his achievements were “starting to sink in” after Tuesday’s historic gold medal-winning performance in the velodrome.
The 36-year-old has now won six Olympic gold medals and a silver compared to Sir Steve Redgrave’s five rowing golds and one bronze.
But the Scot dismissed his new title as Britain’s greatest Olympian: “To me Sir Steve will always be the greatest. To win five consecutive gold medals has to be the greatest achievement … I’m just delighted to have won my races.”
With an independence referendum on the cards in 2014, London 2012 could be the last Olympic Games where Scots compete as part of Team GB.
When asked if he considered himself a Scottish Olympian or a British Olympian Sir Chris said: “I’m Scottish and I’m British, I think you can be both. They’re not mutually exclusive but it’s frustrating because as an athlete all you want to do is race and be the best you can and not get dragged into politics.
“All I can say is that I’m very proud to be part of this team, to be part of the British team to be alongside English and Welsh and guys from the Isle of Man and everybody it’s been great and I’m proud to be part of it.”
