Holyrood will listen to hero Hoy's call for sports boost

Published on Thursday 28 August 2008 22:05

THE Scottish Government has promised to listen to Olympic hero Chris Hoy's concerns about the lack of high-level training facilities for future generations of athletes in Scotland.

Hoy, the cyclist who became the first Briton in 100 years to win three gold medals at a single Games, said he had been given the assurance by Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister.

She made the promise at a reception at Edinburgh Castle on Wednesday to welcome Scotland's medal-winners on their return from Beijing.

"We had a chat and she said we completely understand what you are saying," Hoy told The Scotsman yesterday. "The good thing is they are keen to speak to me and ask for advice in terms of facilities and making things better for sport in Scotland."

Hoy admits he is still finding his feet dealing with his new-found fame and said he is learning to be more measured with his words after being misinterpreted by politicians over his views on a separate Scottish Olympic team.

Referring to his statement that he had said it was "ridiculous" to have a separate Scottish team at the Olympics, he said: "I don't regret what I said, because what I said was misinterpreted.

"But in terms of the whole Scottish Olympic thing, my point was that it would be ridiculous to think that we could support a Scottish team with the current facilities. The idea of representing a Scottish team in the Olympics is not ridiculous. Of course it's not.

"I am proud to be Scottish and am patriotic. But at the moment they can't look at the results achieved by Scottish athletes and say, 'Oh, Scotland won these medals alone'. We couldn't have done it without the support the British set-up gave us.

"In the future if they are serious about it, and serious to push Scotland forward as an independent sporting nation, then it is going to take a long time and a lot of investment.

"But of course it could be done. We have the talent there. Look at British sport in the last ten years, and how much that's progressed. You could do the same in Scotland, but it would take a long time to do it.

"It would end up diluting the resources in Britain, and it would split everything up. And obviously British team results would suffer too, which I think would be a shame. The bottom line is until Scotland is an independent nation, the International Olympic Committee won't recognise it. Until then, it's out of the question really."

Hoy's comments were seen as a major setback for First Minister Alex Salmond's desire to create a Scottish Olympic team.

Hoy, who is based in Manchester, home of the National Cycling Centre, said he was "a proud Scot and a very proud Brit as well".

Ms Sturgeon, speaking at the reception, said: "The Scottish Government's overriding priority is to see an increase in sporting participation rates, and the success of our four medallists can only be a major influence on our young people and help inspire the heroes of tomorrow."