Sir Chris Hoy gutted as he is forced to pull out of Commonwealths

Published on Thursday 15 July 2010 19:42

THE SCOTTISH team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi - and indeed the Games themselves - suffered a crushing blow last night with the news that they will go ahead without Sir Chris Hoy.

• Sir Chris Hoywon't get the chance to cycle in Scottish colours this year (Picture: Getty Images)

Hoy's absence will almost certainly reduce the Scottish medal count, while also depriving the team of its talisman, an athlete who - as Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh noted, describing Hoy as "an inspirational ambassador" - was expected to be more than just a member of the squad.

The four-time Olympic champion has had his hand forced by the late addition to the cycling calendar of a European championship. The new event is yet to be officially announced by cycling's governing body, the UCI, but Hoy understands that it will be held in early November, with the venue rumoured to be St Petersburg. Crucially, the European championships - unlike the Commonwealth Games - will offer Olympic qualification points, and, as Hoy explained, he cannot take the risk of allowing his rivals to gain a head start on him in the brief eighteen-month period that counts towards the London Games, where he will be aiming to defend all three of his Olympic titles.

"It's a decision that's been forced on me by the nature of the qualification process for the London Olympics," said Hoy. "The Olympics has to take precedence over everything. I could turn up at the Commonwealth Games in October, but it'd hamper my preparation for the European championships. And I wouldn't be at 100 per cent. The standard at the Commonwealth Games is so high that 95 per cent wouldn't be good enough, and it would be disrespectful to the event and the Scottish team."

Dave Brailsford, the British Cycling performance director, indicated that Britain's other leading track cyclists would be forced to make the same decision as Hoy. "This new European championship will affect everybody with Olympic ambitions," said Brailsford. "The problem we have is one of prioritisation.

"The timing has put a lot of athletes in a difficult and unenviable position," continued Brailsford. "For most of the top level guys, including Chris, their main aim is the Olympics - and this is a qualifying event they're going to need to be going really well at." It is not the first time that a UCI decision has left Hoy feeling bewildered and disappointed. In 2005, the year after he won his first Olympic gold medal in Athens, his event, the kilometre time trial, was axed to make way on the cycling programme for BMX.

Hoy's response then was to switch to two new events, the keirin and individual sprint, claiming gold in both in Beijing, and adding a historic third in the team sprint. But, since the Beijing Games, further tweaks to the qualification criteria - including the rule that only one rider per nation will be allowed in each event - have left him frustrated.

"I welcome the introduction of a European championship," said Hoy, "because the other regions have their own championships, and it's a good thing that we're going to have one in Europe. It's the timing of it, and the lateness of the organisation, I have a problem with.

"It's yet another frustrating situation that the UCI has created, but nothing surprises me any more," continued Hoy. "To me it shows a lack of understanding of what goes into preparing for a major event. Do they think we just turn up and race?

"The lack of transparancy and consultation around the decision making process is a constant frustration.

"But I've learned now that I can't do anything about it, so you just have to accept it. I just hope now that the 2014 Commonwealth Games will give me the opportunity to do another Games for Scotland.

"The only positive is that it frees up a place for one of the younger Scottish riders," added Hoy. "There are some really promising young sprinters in Scotland - guys like John Paul, Callum Skinner and Kevin Stewart.

"They're the future, and maybe Delhi will give them a chance to perform together and experience a major games. I know how invaluable that experience was to me, having competed at the Kuala Lumpur games in 1998, then going to Manchester in 2002 and winning my first major title."

Cavanagh echoed Hoy as he reacted on behalf of CGS to the news of Hoy's withdrawal. "Despite Chris's omission we are confident that we will have a strong committed team in Delhi, and it now creates an opportunity for other cyclists to step up to the challenge of emulating their hero," he said.