Chris Hoy: The Autobiography

As the first Briton to win three Olympic golds at the same Games, Scotland’s Chris Hoy has become a beacon for British sporting achievement. His autobiography charts his life from seven-year-old BMX fanatic, supported by a devoted dad and his local cycling club, through paralysing self-doubt and a major career overhaul, to the sport’s holy grail.


Chris Hoy is a genuine sporting superhero – and he’s British.


This 32-year-old cycling fanatic from Musselburgh in the suburbs of Edinburgh defied the doubters who thought he would struggle when his specialist discipline, the 1km time trial, was dropped from the Olympics, and went on to reinvent himself as a track cycling sprinter and triple Olympic gold medallist in Beijing. His return to these shores sparked unprecedented celebrations and real admiration that here was a role model who was the epitome of all things that are good in sport.


What makes a champion in sport? In his autobiography, Hoy returns to his roots as a child fully engaged with the BMX craze of the Eighties; when, even as a seven year old his will to succeed allied to an unyielding mental strength set him apart from other youngsters of his age. A promising rower and rugby player in school, it was when he joined his first local cycling club and spent most weekends of the year competing in national events from Blackpool to Bristol that the seeds of his future career were sown.