Chris Hoy

Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.

Hoy is an 11-time world champion and a six-time Olympic champion. With a total of seven Olympic medals, six gold and one silver, Hoy is the second most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time. Between 2012 and 2021, he was the most successful British Olympian and the most successful Olympic cyclist of all time. His 17 global titles across four disciplines make Hoy the second most successful track cyclist at the global level of all times behind Harrie Lavreysen.

With his three gold medals in 2008 Summer Olympics, Hoy became Scotland's most successful Olympian, the first British male athlete to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games since Henry Taylor in 1908, and the most successful Olympic cyclist of all time. After winning a further two gold medals (in the keirin and team sprint) at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Hoy has won the second-most Olympic gold medals (six) of all British athletes, behind Jason Kenny, and more total medals (seven) than any except fellow cyclists Kenny and Sir Bradley Wiggins. Hoy has won Olympic gold medals in more separate events — team sprint (twice), match sprint, keirin (twice) and kilo — than any other cyclist.

In September 2023, Hoy was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. In October 2024, he reported that his condition was terminal and that he had been given between two and four years to live.

The son of David and Carol Hoy, Chris Hoy was born on 23 March 1976 and grew up in Murrayfield, Edinburgh. He was privately educated at George Watson's College, followed by two years at the University of St Andrews studying Mathematics and Physics until 1996. He subsequently transferred to the University of Edinburgh, from which he graduated BSc (Hons.) in Applied Sports Science in 1999.

Hoy, whose first bike cost £5, was inspired to cycle at age six by the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Hoy says the BMX bike he saw in the film is what inspired him to start cycling. Before track cycling, Hoy raced BMX between the ages of 7 and 14 and was ranked second in Britain, fifth in Europe, and ninth in the world. He received sponsorship from Slazenger and Kwik-Fit, and was competing in Europe and the USA. He first became aware of track cycling when he watched TV coverage of Scottish sprinter Eddie Alexander winning a bronze medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Hoy also represented the Scotland Junior Rowing Team and was second in the 1993 National Rowing Championships with Grant Florence in the coxless pairs. He played rugby as part of his school's team.

Hoy joined his first cycling club, Dunedin C.C., in 1990, aged 14, and began concentrating on track cycling in 1993, when he joined the City of Edinburgh Racing Club. In 1997, he and fellow Scottish sprinter Craig MacLean were tipped as medal prospects by Phil Liggett.

Hoy won silver in Berlin, at the 1999 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the team sprint, riding at man one, Craig MacLean at two and Jason Quealley at three. Regular teammates in the team sprint over the years included Craig MacLean, Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff, Jason Queally, Matthew Crampton, and Jason Kenny.