Hoy hints at future as pundit and coach

SIR Chris Hoy has made a very successful living by sitting down and – whether he retires or not in the spring – his career after 
cycling could involve perching on a seat once again.

As widely publicised, the 36-year-old, who became 
Britain’s greatest-ever Olympian at London 2012 with his fifth and sixth gold medals, will 
decide early next year what the future holds.

The choice is simple – a 
golden farewell at a home Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 or immediate retirement to pursue new projects. 
The decision, however, isn’t quite so easy.

Hoy is taking the possibility of continuing his career seriously – he’ll head to Australia next month for a training camp – but whether the same can be said for life after cycling remains to be seen.

He’s expressed an interest in coaching but he doesn’t want to be fast-tracked into the British set-up, revealing how he would find it “weird” to mentor those he once rode with.

Instead, he could coach the generation that he has helped inspire, although expect that to be tempered with a pastime he picked up in the velodrome that bears his name.

While at the Glasgow Track World Cup in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome last week, he turned his hand to commentating and it would appear he has caught the bug.

“I wouldn’t go into coaching in the short term,” said Hoy – speaking at this week’s UK Coaching Awards, supported by Gillette, in London. “There has to be a gap between finishing riding and coaching because trying to coach your team-mates and the guys you have been 
racing with for years could be a bit weird. I think it would be a really rewarding thing to do and a really exciting thing but that isn’t at the forefront of my mind.

“I was doing commentary for the BBC in Glasgow and it was great because I had an awesome view of the track and it was excellent to see so many people coming in and watching.

“It is the first time that 
Scotland has had an international facility and the first time we have held an international grand prix in its history so it was quite a momentous weekend.”

The man who Hoy surpassed as Britain’s greatest Olympian, Sir Steve Redgrave, famously said he wanted to be shot if anyone saw him rowing after his fourth career gold medal at the Atlanta 1996 Games.

Four months later, he was back in a boat and it appears 
riding a bike is something that Hoy won’t avoid whenever he decides to retire. “You really do miss it and not just in a competitive sense but being away from the bike you feel unhealthy, lazy and lethargic,” he added.

“You are desperate to get back into a routine and, when you do, your body has a bit of a shock and it takes time to get back into that routine. But, even when I retire, I will be riding my bike regularly.”

l Gillette’s support of the UK Coaching Awards follows its partnership with Sports Coach UK earlier this year as part of the Great Starts campaign, introduced to celebrate coaches and inspire the next generation by awarding coaching grants.