Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Sir Chris Hoy named Britain’s favourite Olympian

Six-times Olympic champ believes Team GB will get among the medals at Rio

Sir Chris Hoy has been named Britain’s favourite Olympian in a poll released less than a fortnight before the start of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – but Sir Bradley Wiggins, the only other British athlete in any sport who can match the Scot’s total of seven medals, was off the podium in eighth place.

The poll of 2,000 people was commissioned by Team GB Olympic outfitters, Simon Jersey, reports Herald Scotland.

Hoy, who has six gold medals compared to Wiggins’ four, beat one of his own sporting heroes, five-time Olympic champion rower Sir Steve Redgrave into second place, with decathlete Daley Thompson third.

London 2012 double gold medal-winning runner Mo Farah was fourth, followed by reigning Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennnis-Hill, two-time Olympic champion athlete Dame Kelly Holmes, then – perhaps surprisingly – tennis star Andy Murray, winner of the men’s singles four years ago.

After Wiggins, the top 10 was rounded off by two middle distance runners – Seb Coe, who also chaired the organising committee for London 2012, and Sir Roger Bannister, although the latter, who in 1954 was the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, never won an Olympic medal.

“It’s true that Chris Hoy has one of the most successful careers in British sporting history,” said a spokesman for Simon Jersey.

“He’s the most decorated of all, so we aren’t surprised that he’s been voted the greatest British Olympian of all time above so many other famous names.”

“And many will remember Sir Steve Redgrave winning his fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal which has earned him his runner-up spot.

“With the 2016 Olympics in Rio just around the corner, many will be looking forward to the same excitement with both new and familiar Olympic faces on our televisions.”

Missing from the poll however is one of the country’s most successful ever Olympians, Jason Kenny, who has three gold medals, two of those riding alongside Hoy in the team sprint at Beijing and London and who will be looking to add to his tally in Rio.

Hoy himself said that he was confident Team GB’s track cyclists would win medals in Rio despite the turmoil caused by the resignation of technical director Shane Sutton earlier this year in the wake of allegations of discrimination and bullying.

“We are unlikely to match the medals tally from Beijing or London on the track, but it is not impossible,” said Hoy, quoted by the Aberdeen Evening Express.

“To win 70 per cent of gold medals from 10 track events is almost unheard of – nobody else has done anything close to that – and it was all down to the team’s hard work and preparation and meticulous planning.

“But I think this team will also do really well. I think we will be the top track cycling nation once again with at least four gold medals and maybe five.

“It is exciting to think what could happen if we start off on the right foot,” he added. 

“When we won gold in the team sprint on the first night in Beijing it had a significant impact on the whole team and that could happen again in Rio.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

5 comments

Avatar
Stumps | 7 years ago
0 likes

However I do agree about Daley Thompson he was absolute class and my favourite

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to Stumps | 7 years ago
1 like

AWPeleton wrote:

However I do agree about Daley Thompson he was absolute class and my favourite

 

And he had a ZX Spectrum game. That's all the legend you need.

 

At least things have moved on in the workplace. Now people say "who do you think you are? Bradley Wiggins?" when you turn up in lycra. It used to be Lance Armstrong.

Avatar
Stumps | 7 years ago
0 likes

Slight contradiction there mate, his views on the latest drugs in Russia have certainly rocked the boat and upset many, you included so he's hardly the angel you making him out to be !!!!

Avatar
Condor Andy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Poll of 2,000 people = Britain's opinion......Yeah ok.

Avatar
The _Kaner replied to Condor Andy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Condor Andy wrote:

Poll of 2,000 people = Britain's opinion......Yeah ok.

 

Good enough for me...

Latest Comments