Sir Chris Hoy was born on 23 March 1976 in Edinburgh and became inspired to cycle at the tender age of six while watching the 1982 film ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.
Extracts from the accompanying The Greatest Scot television programme are being added to these biographical notes as the programme is broadcast between November 9 and 13. If you live outside the UK, you will not be able to see these, but you may enjoy other videos about some of the subjects which are available via links in the text. Here is a video of Chris Hoy explaining why he is proud to be a Scot.
Between the age of seven and 14, Chris raced BMX bikes, just like the one E.T. got a ride in in the film, and was ranked second in Britain and ninth in the World.
He joined his first cycling club, Dunedin CC, in 1992 which was run by fromer track star Ray Harris and his wife Doreen. In the early years, he raced Time Trials, Mountain Bike, Road and Track but gradually came to concentrate on Track.
In 1994, he joined The City of Edinburgh Racing Club, the most successful track club in Britain. He has been a member of the Great Britain National Squad since 1996.
He really made his name for himself in 2008 when he became a multiple world and Olympic champion, winning two gold medals in the 2008 World Cycling Championships in Manchester and three gold medals in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. He was
These victories have made him the most successful Olympic cyclist of all time and Scotland's most successful Olympian to date. He also was the first Briton to win three gold medals in a single Olympics since Henry Taylor in 1908. He is a multiple world champion.
In addition to his sporting achievements, he studied at the University of St Andrews where he was voted Sportsman of the Year 1996, and was awarded his Blues in his first year. He transferred to Edinburgh University where he graduated in 1999 with a BSc Honours in Applied Sports Science.
In 2005, he was awarded two Honorary Doctorates, one from the University of Edinburgh and another from Heriot Watt University.
