Sir Chris Hoy, Britain’s most successful Olympian at the time, announced his retirement from cycling on this day in 2013.
The Scot, then 37, won his sixth Olympic gold medal at London 2012, surpassing Sir Steve Redgrave’s previous mark of five, and also won 11 world titles.
Fellow cyclist and former Great Britain team-mate Sir Jason Kenny has since bettered Hoy’s Olympic record by claiming his seventh gold at Tokyo 2020.
He announced his retirement at Murrayfield in his home city of Edinburgh, saying: “I wanted to get a medal for Scotland. I didn’t think I could so wanted someone else to take my place.
“It is a hard time – it is one moment at the end of your career when you say enough is enough.”
Hoy had been at the forefront of British cycling’s rise to prominence at the Olympics.
The silver medal he won alongside Jason Queally and Craig MacLean at Sydney 2000 was a breakthrough moment, as was the gold Queally took in the kilo at the same Games.
There he dominated, adding three gold medals by winning the keirin, team sprint and individual sprint.
His preparations for London 2012 were hindered by a series of injuries, but he overcame them to deliver on the biggest stage again by winning the team sprint and keirin.
