Thursday 2 August 2012

Hoy Adds to Olympic Medal Collection


Sir Chris Hoy claimed his fifth Olympic gold as Great Britain's men's team sprint squad romped to victory inside the London Velodrome.

After witnessing Team GB's men's team pursuit quartet set a world record in their qualifying heat, Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny progressed to the final of the three-man, three-lap team sprint in a world record time of 42.747 seconds.

If that wasn't enough though, the British trio then clocked another world record in a stunning finale, finishing in 42.600secs.

In a repeat of the final four years ago in Beijing, France's Gregory Bauge, Michael D'Almeida and Kevin Sireau had to settle for silver, finishing in 43.013.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry were part of the capacity crowd, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who witnessed Hoy's historic achievement.

The 36-year-old from Edinburgh, competing in his fourth Games, won one-kilometre time-trial gold in Athens in 2004, three titles in Beijing and has now drawn level with Sir Steve Redgrave as the Briton with the most Games golds.

Kenny now has a second Olympic gold and third medal in all, while for Hindes it capped a remarkable period after a rapid rise to prominence, not least on Thursday after he fell to the track after a wobbly start to qualifying.

Bronze went to Germany (43.209), with world champions Australia (43.355) fourth.

Hoy must now wait until Tuesday's final day of the track programme to compete in his second event, the men's keirin, after being overlooked for the sprint, which Kenny is set to start on Saturday.

After climbing down from the podium, Hoy told BBC One: "It is quite overwhelming.

"We knew it was possible, this hasn't come out of the blue. We knew that if we put together our best possible race on the day that it was possible but it's easier said than done.

"We had the full support of the team behind us and we nailed it.

"That last ride I dug deeper than I have ever dug before. I didn't want to let the boys down, they have been riding so well today.

"You can't overstate what it means to us in front of our home crowd."
Unbelievable

Hoy's protégé Hindes said: "It's unbelievable, I still can't believe I am an Olympic champion, it's a dream come true."

Kenny added: "I can't believe how quick we went today.

"Phil went off so quick, we were just swinging over the back of him, trying to keep up."


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