Posted on 08/08/2012 3:29:54 AM PDT by the scotsman
Sir Chris Hoy claimed a sixth Olympic gold medal to become the most successful British Olympian of all time.
Having won gold on the first night of the track cycling in the men's team sprint, Hoy's triumph in the keirin was the perfect finale for Team GB.
Hoy's six golds take him past rowing great Sir Steve Redgrave's five.
And with a silver from Sydney 2000 as well, he equals Bradley Wiggins's record total of seven medals.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
The training appears to be very tough.
My wife is a volunteer (one of the 70,000 at the games) working at the Basketball Arena, supervising access to the ladies’ loos at the exit (well, somebody has to do it....)
The Velodrome is just across ther way from her post. Because the Velodrome was packed out yesterday, as it has been all week, a huge overspill crowd gradually built up on the concourse outside to watch Pendleton and Hoy’s final appearances on the big outdoor screen. She says she’s never heard anything like the roar when he won.
Hoy’s second jump on the final bend, when it looked as if the German had him beat, surpassed anything I’ve seen, even from Hoy.
I’ve been involved with bike racing for five decades, during most of which time it’s been ignored, marginalised or patronised as a poor man’s sport in this country. The transformation over the last few years, during which, to the incredulity of the rest of the international competition, Britain has become the world’s top cycling nation, sometimes makes me think I’ve woken up in a different universe.
GB is having a phenomenal Olympics, I couldn’t be happier for them.
I’ve become somewhat aware of the importance of cycling in Britain since seeing the movie “The Flying Scotsman” about the Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree. I’ll have to ask by English-raised wife what she knows about it.
The Anglosphere is doing very well. China can have the Badminton and Table Tennis and Synchronized Swimming Medals, we’ll take the rest.
I recall when Britain produced great riders against the clock like Beryl Burton and Alf Engers (showing my age).
Well now, you’re always coming across the unexpected here on Free Republic: but a poster from New Mexico who’s heard of Alf Engers (a legend of the British domestic time-trialling scene from the 1970s, for the unintiated..), well, that’s something else...
I was a complete nut on all things cycling for many years. Spent about 20 in the business. I still lust over the silver and blue Raleigh Professional from the early 70’s.
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