Chris Hoy

“I was six when I saw 'ET.' It changed my life. I wasn't interested in cycling at all before.”

“You know how hard you work. You know what you put into it. You want to win more than anything else. So the disappointment at the end is not because of anything other than being frustrated with yourself.”

“I might only have half an hour when I get home after a long day, and the last thing I want to do is exercise. But you feel if you don't do that, tomorrow you're going to miss it again.”

“Of course I don't expect people to call me Sir Chris. That'd be embarrassing.”

“I've been to Florida, Texas and California in the States, but New York is the place I really want to visit.”

“Kuala Lumpur was my first ever multi-sports games. I didn't do very well but the experience and enjoyment I had of those games really made me realize how much work I had to do and inspired me to work harder for the Sydney Olympics.”

“I'm writing kid's books, I'm doing endurance racing with Le Mans and designing bikes. I've also got my own range of cycling clothing.”

“The P2 is the best car I have driven so far. Once you get your head round it, it's fun to drive, it's responsive, it does what you ask but you have to treat it with respect or it will bite you.”

“Certainly for me the Commonwealth Games were fantastic to compete in and I genuinely have so many great memories of the three I went to.”

“Investment is crucial but it's just the start. You look at some of the nations that have massive budgets but don't perform, then there are smaller nations who don't have massive budgets and can still get a reasonable medal count.”

“It doesn't matter what your target is, write down your goal and then plan how you are going to achieve it.”

“I know when I'm on good form there's no one in the world I can't beat.”

“Whether you are aware of it or not, if you eat right then you are giving yourself the best chance of defending against illness.”

“Scottish people don't take themselves too seriously. I think you have to be like that when you're from a place where the weather is bad.”

“I used to row as a junior for Scotland but I was never massive, I was always tall and rangey.”

“The uptake of people getting involved in cycling is partly down to the big success the team has had in the Tour de France, the Olympics and the World Championships.”

“You are always pushing, pushing, pushing but it is when you do that that your body can break down.”

“To win like that, in Scottish kit, in the U.K., beating the Olympic champion, hearing Scotland the Brave on the podium, I was very emotional.”

“Decent cycling clothing today is designed with reflective strips or subtle detailing that is visible under streetlights or in car headlights. You'll find that you can be seen just as well as you would in a builder's fluorescent vest.”

“You don't know how your body is going to shape up. It's whether you can maintain the performance - or improve it - without getting injured. That's the battle every athlete faces and the older you get the harder it becomes.”