With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games being postponed to 2021, we thought we could talk about some previous Olympians and how they embody certain Olympic values. This second post of seven features Chris Hoy and his approach to achieving excellence.
Name: Chris Hoy
Sport: Track cyclist
Hometown: Edinburgh, Scotland
With 11 World Championship titles and 6 Olympic gold medals under his belt, Chris Hoy is the second most decorated Olympian of all time and Scotland’s most successful Olympian ever. Hoy has competed at 4 consecutive Olympic games, each time demonstrating what the Olympic value of excellence truly means.
Hoy’s debut Olympic appearance was in Sydney in 2000, where he placed second in the Team Sprint alongside Jason Queally and Craig MacLean. Not content with silver, however, Hoy returned to break the World and Olympic records for the sea-level kilo race at the games in 2004, winning his first gold medal to boot. But his best performance was still yet to come and, when he showed up at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Hoy was at the top of his game. That year, he took home three gold medals, coming first in the men’s keirin, the men’s team sprint and the men’s individual sprint. In doing so, he became the first Brit to win three gold medals at a single Olympics in 100 years.
Chris Hoy’s final Olympic appearance was at the 2012 London games where he (alongside Jason Kenny and Phillip Hindes) secured yet another gold medal in the Team Sprint and set a new world record in the velodrome.
How does Chris Hoy achieve excellence?
With a final grand tally of 7 Olympic medals – 6 gold and 1 silver – Hoy is joint holder of the most ever British Olympic medals. As a perfect example of the Olympic value of excellence, what can we learn from his success?
Hoy has earned his spot on the Olympic podium with his willingness to continuously adapt to the changing face of his sport. When Hoy’s first Olympic event – the kilo – was pulled from the games, he worked hard to develop his skills in other events. Hoy pushed for excellence in not one, but several different events and, in doing so, became one of the most decorated Olympians of all time.
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