Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy talks to the Evening Standard's Joshi Herrmann
Sir Chris Hoy
Age: 36
From: Edinburgh
Weight: 92kg
Height: 185cm
Motto: “Don’t give up”
Medals: Silver in the 2000 team sprint, Gold in the 2004 1km time trial and gold in the 2008 team sprint, individual sprint and Keirin. Ten world championship golds.
Training: In the morning I do two hours in the gym. The sessions tend to be heavy with the leg weights — squats and Olympic style lifting to develop lower body strength. There’s usually a three-hour track session in the afternoon then an hour-long road “recovery” ride, which is a low-intensity session to flush out the toxins and lactic acid.
Diet and food: It’s just a balanced diet. Good quality protein, white meat, fish, a bit of red meat, decent carbs such as pasta and potatoes. The key things are having enough carbs before training and plenty of protein afterwards. I would like to say I eat little and often but it tends to be a lot and often! The eating is dictated by when you’re training, leaving an hour and a half before you train.
Drinks: There’s no alcohol ban. You just have to realise that you must look after yourself. I had a Hogmanay with a few drinks, and a night of celebration after the World Champs, and that is about it since September last year. I tend not to drink in an Olympic year. A glass of wine here or there wouldn’t make a difference but it’s about showing commitment and if you can’t do that for the Olympics, what can you do it for?
Treats? I love my food and I eat as a reward for hard work. Just because it’s tasty doesn’t mean it has to be bad for you. My wife is a brilliant cook and great at baking — she’s good at cupcakes.
Beauty: As a cyclist you have to shave your legs. I always used to have in-growing hairs, so now I use Gillette face scrub to get rid of that. I use moisturiser because I get dry skin, sometimes with a bit of sunscreen in it when we’re abroad.
Hair: When you train so much with a helmet on you struggle to look after your hair. I use matt clay to style it.
Shaving: Usually I shave first thing. Some riders grow a beard but I think you have to look for every possible area to improve.
Spa treatments: When I’m away on holiday — like to Thailand — I do like a good massage. The ones we get in training are quite brutal so it’s nice to have the scented candles etc.
Bad habits: I’m impatient, apparently. I do get impatient with myself — I want things to happen a bit too much sometimes. I get annoyed with myself and that affects my mood.
Favourite body parts: My legs— I’ve got a lot to thank them for.
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Least favourite: My back, because it gives me so much trouble. I get a bad one when I’m in a bad bed. It makes me feel like an old man.
Sex and the Olympics: the media love to wonder what goes on behind closed doors. I couldn’t possibly reveal those secrets! It’s tense in the village at the start and gradually as more athletes finish you hear groups of athletes coming in late so it turns into a bit of a party zone. I feel sorry for the marathon guys who have to hear all the other athletes. I use ear plugs so I wouldn’t know!
Any other sport: I’m very bad at golf but I love it. I’ve only played for a couple of years but I’ll do more when I finish cycling. If I get under 100 in a round I’ll be delighted. I also really like track driving — I have a Lotus 211 at the moment, I love it. I also have a Jaguar XKR, which you can also enjoy with the road. I’m better at driving than golf.
Passion: I love watching films and TV. When you’re not training your time is spent trying to recover and rest. I like Will Ferrell films and at the other end of the spectrum I really liked Crash, about racism in LA — it was just brilliant and really made you think. I love Ricky Gervais’s comedies, it’s nice to have something a bit light-hearted to watch.
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