Chris Hoy among five inducted into Scots Sports Hall of Fame

Left to right, Sir Chris Hoy, Shirley Robertson, Kenny Cairns, Shirley McIntosh and Ian McGeechan. Picture: John Devlin

Sir Chris Hoy MBE (cycling), Shirley Robertson OBE (sailing), Shirley McIntosh MBE (shooting), Kenny Cairns MBE (swimming) and Sir Ian McGeechan OBE (rugby) were recognised at an event at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

The Hall of Fame was launched in 2002 to honour Scotland’s most distinguished and successful sportsmen and women.

Louise Martin CBE, chair of Sportscotland and the Hall of Fame selection panel, said last night: “It seems today that you can find fame almost overnight. But, sporting fame is achieved over a lifetime of sweat and tears. And it is earned, not given.

“These five new inductees have certainly earned their place.

“Chris, Shirley, Kenny, Shirley and Ian have all done so much to make us proud as a nation, but also to inspire those who follow in their wake.

Hoy is Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete, with six gold medals and one silver.

The Edinburgh man won his first Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004 in the kilometre time trial.

He won again at the Beijing Olympics and took his total of golds to six in 2012 at the London games in London with victories in the keirin and team sprint. Chris retired from competitive cycling in 2013 but remains Scotland’s most successful Olympian and was the first Briton since 1908 to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games. He is the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time.

He said: “This is a huge privilege for me, to see my name on a list of some of Scotland’s most inspirational sporting stars, many of them my childhood heroes,”

Dundee’s Robertson made it into the history books by becoming the first British woman sailor to win two Olympic gold medals at consecutive Games. She also collected silver medals at the 1998, 1999 and 2000 Europe Class World Championships and competed in both the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics before taking gold in Sydney in 2000.

She said: “This is very special. I’m truly delighted to be joining the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. It’s quite a moment to be considered part of that extraordinary club.”

Shooter McIntosh picked up gold and silver medals at her first Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, becoming the first ever Scottish woman to win a gold medal for shooting. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, she added another two bronze medals to her collection, making her only the second Scottish woman to win four Commonwealth Games medals in total. Both her daughters, Jennifer and Seonaid, now compete for Scotland and Great Britain.

Cairns collected four golds and one silver at the Paralympic Games in 1984 but that was only the start of an incredible 20-year career in which he won medals in major events all over the world, racking up a total of 13 Paralympic medals at Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. He also won an astounding 16 medals in World Championships – including seven golds

Rugby legendMcGeechan both played for and coached the British & Irish Lions. He was also the Scotland coach from 1988-1993 and his reign included the 1990 Grand Slam and a fourth-place finish at the 1991 World Cup.

McGeechan also led the Lions in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2009.