Eight months after he raised his Olympic gold medal tally to a staggering six titles, Chris Hoy is expected to finally call an end to a long and very successful career. The 37 year old Scottish rider will speak at a media conference in Edinburgh on Thursday, where his retirement is expected to confirmed.
Billed as a ‘major announcement’ by British Cycling, it seems almost certain that the date will mark the end of his time as one of the giants competing in world sport.
Hoy said in mid-November that he was at a crossroads and that he would decide in the months ahead if he would continue in the sport or hang up his wheels.
“I’ll make a decision sooner rather than later by Spring next year,” the Scot confirmed then, while attending the track World Cup in Glasgow held in a velodrome named in his honour. “I’ll be getting back into training and racing in January in Australia to see how the body copes.
“I will definitely not be competing at the Worlds as the rest of the guys have been training flat out, especially the younger guys not competing at the Olympics and trying to make the Worlds team.”
Nine days after that announcement he launched his own-name brand of bicycles, appearing to pave the way for the next stage of his life.
Hoy has had a stunning career which has earned him six Olympic gold medals, ten world championship titles and made him the most successful British Olympian of all time. However at 37 years of age, the clock is ticking as to how long he could remain at the top of the sport.
Recent Olympic rule changes have meant that countries can only have one competitor in each event, and this saw him miss out on the defence of his 2008 Olympic sprint title in London. Instead, Jason Kenny gained selection and he went on to win gold.
Hoy took his latest Olympic titles in the team sprint and keirin races there.
According to the Guardian, figures in British Cycling have privately known for some time that he was planning to retire. With the next Olympics over three years away, the main consideration for Hoy was whether or not he would continue until next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Speaking last November when he said he would be weighing up the matter, he admitted that being away from competition was difficult.
“After every Olympics, I like to take time off so at this time of year I always miss being on my bike. It’s a weird feeling walking into the velodrome and not competing, and not having the adrenaline and competitive head on. To be here just as a race fan,” he explained.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into the groove and get back into the routine in Australia,” he explained then. “I miss the training as I now have so much spare time and you start feeling terrible and lethargic and run down and I definitely want to get back into some form of exercise and routine.
“When I eventually retire I will definitely still continue to cycle on my bike and keep exercising because it has been such a large part of my life for so many years.”