Sir Chris Hoy cycling career

Sir Chris Hoy joined his first cycling club at the age of 14, before concentrating on track cycling when he joined the City of Edinburgh Racing Club. He won silver at the 1999 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the team sprint before focussing on the upcoming Olympic Games.

He burst onto the public scene at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he teamed up with fellow cyclists Jason Queally and Craig MacLean to win a silver medal. Chris’ success would begin the renaissance of British track cycling along with figureheads Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish.

By the time the 2004 Olympics came around, Chris was ranked No 1, and he ended up beating the World and Olympic Record, winning an individual gold medal. The 2004 games was the last time the Kilo event would be at an Olympics, so Chris had to develop his skills in other events, including the keirin, sprint and team sprint. This games meant he became Great Britain’s most successful Olympian at the time, with seven medals in total.

In between the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, Sir Chris Hoy attempted the world record for the kilometre, but fell 0.005 seconds short, but he did win the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2008, becoming the first British man to do so in 52 years.

In 2008, Sir Chris Hoy became the first British Olympian for 100 years to claim three gold medals at one games. Following these games, he took part in the Revolution 22 event, where he won both the sprint and keirin competitions. Sadly, an injury sustained a few months later ruled him out of most of the 2009 season. He started the 09/10 track season at the British National Championships where he took two individual national titles, gold medals in the Keirin, Sprint and was part of the Team Sprint. Two weeks later he won gold in the Keirin at the UCI World Cup, followed by the gold in the sprint event and team sprint. At the 2010 UCI World Championships, he won the bronze team sprint and the gold in the Keirin.

In 2011, Chris took the match sprint title at the British National Championships, followed by the gold at the 2012 World Cup in Keirin and bronze in the team sprint, before winning gold in the individual sprint. Chris was the flag bearer at the 2012 Olympics in London. He went on to set a new world record in the team sprint, winning gold in that event as well as the Keirin, where he overtook Sir Steve Redgrave as the most successful British Olympian at the time. He announced his retirement from competitive cycling following this.

Sir Chris Hoy Accolades

Following his hat-trick of gold medals in the 2008 Olympics, he was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, along with the BBC Sports Personality Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. In 2005 he was awarded two honorary doctorates – one from the University of Edinburgh and another from Heriot-Watt University – before gaining another in 2009 from the University of St Andrews. Also in 2009, he was knighted by the Queen for his services to sport and cycling.

Sir Chris Hoy motorsport

After retiring from competitive cycling, Sir Chris Hoy took up one of his other passions – motorsport. In 2016, he took part in the world’s most demanding endurance race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing in 18th place out of 60 cars.

Sir Chris Hoy business and writing

He remains passionate about cycling and successfully launched a range of kids’ bikes called HOY Bikes, as well as published a series of children’s books, Flying Fergus, a cycling adventure series.

Sir Chris Hoy commentator

Since retiring, Chris can now be seen as part of the commentary teams on television and radio. He was an integral part of the BBC’s team covering the 2016 and 2020 Olympic games, the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 European Championships and the Tour de France. He also became a track-side pundit for Eurosport for the 2021 UCI Track Champions League.

Sir Chris Hoy speaking

Chris is an experienced, polished speaker and presenter. He has spoken at events large and small across the country, discussing his professional career and the lessons he has learnt from it. He was also named as the official ambassador for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, an event he competed in on more than one occasion.

Sir Chris Hoy speaking topics

– Olympics

– Goal Setting

– Mindset

– Performance

– Personal Development

– Planning and Preparation

– Teamwork

As a popular speaker, Chris talks about how to change, no matter how difficult, can be a good thing. Relaying his own story of change from 2004 to 2008 Olympics, Chris touches on the emotions he went through as a professional athlete, the highs and lows of the public eye, how he learnt new techniques to help him both physically and mentally and how he dealt with life away from his family.

Sir Chris Hoy is a unique speaker, able to convert his experience in the sporting world to how people can improve their motivation, resilience and teamwork skills in the business world.

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers now to book Olympics Legend Sir Chris Hoy for your corporate event.

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