Olympic Cyclist Attributes Success to Lotto Funding - 08-23-08

August 23 - Three words you are unlikely to see used in the same sentence are 'Olympics' and 'UK Lottery' but for 2008 British Olympic team track cyclist and triple gold medal winner Chris Hoy, the three go hand in hand and have got him to the exalted position he is in today.

On the back of his stunning Olympic gold medal hat-trick, the 32-year-old Scottish cyclist has admitted that if it wasn't for the 24,000 pounds he has been receiving each year as part of the UK Lottery funding program for the country's top athletes, he wouldn't be sitting victorious in Beijing.

Said Hoy, Thanks to the UK Lottery funding, I could afford to focus on cycling full time and hone my fitness and skill levels. In fact, if it wasn't for the generous lottery funding, I probably would have completed my teaching degree at St Andrews University, although I wouldn't be teaching or cycling.'

And a good thing too, as Hoy readily admits that he did not enjoy his maths and physics course, and was only to happy to pursue his cycling interests that have seen him win Olympic gold for his country. 'Without the UK Lottery funding, I could never have afforded to support myself in cycling,' he said.

Of course now that Hoy has become an Olympic gold medal winner, the annual 24,000 pounds of UK Lottery funding he has been living on will pale in comparison to the millions of pounds he can expect to earn in the coming year, thanks to lucrative sponsorship and endorsement deals.

Hoy, who until the 2008 Beijing Olympic games had only won a silver medal in the last Olympic Games, took a decision to put in a full year of hard training to 'go for broke' ahead of this year's Olympic Games in order to bring home a gold medal or - as it turned out - three.

'I am extremely grateful to the UK Lottery funding program for allowing me to achieve my goals and make my life-long dreams come true both for myself and for my country,' said Hoy.