 |
Chris Hoy is a very, very fast man. Much quicker than myself over a kilometre, that’s for sure. And it’s the kilo which he can confidently call his signature event, if he so wished. A slew of medals and being the reigning Olympic and world kilometre champion back this up.
But the 2008 Olympics in Beijing see the removal of the kilometre event, much to his annoyance we’d imagine. Not having the chance to shine in your number one discipline at the biggest event in the world is a hard pill to swallow.
But possibly the next biggest record is the world record, which the BBC today reports he’s going to attempt to break: “The Scot is finalising plans for a bid, “probably in mid-May”, to beat Arnaud Tournant’s record of 58.875 secs, set in 2001 at altitude in Bolivia.”
Tournant set that record at altitude. Hoy’s Olympic record at Athens in 2004 of 1.00.711 was set at sea level though, which is slower as the oxygen is thinner at altitude. Tournant’s record stands at 58.875secs, so Hoy has a substantial amount of ground to make up, but we’re confident he has the ability to do it.
To find out more about what makes Hoy tick, here’s another chance to read our interview with him.
