CHRIS HOY

Craig Maclean, Chris Hoy and Jason Queally
©ALLSPORT

WEEK 1
Date: July 31

One-track mind on the medals

"There are now only seven weeks to go until the biggest race of my life, but the fact that I will actually be participating in the Olympics, still hasn't registered.

The Olympics was always something that I watched on television as a kid and day-dreamed about, but now that I will be on the other side of the screen as a competitor, it all seems a bit surreal. I've had plenty of time to get accustomed to the idea. I was assured qualification more than nine months ago, after my ride in the World Track Cycling Championships in Berlin, however, I don't think the reality of taking part in the Games will hit home until I get out to Sydney.

My event is new to the Olympics, but has been part of the World Championship programme since 1995. Essentially the Olympic Sprint is a team event on the track for sprinters, comparable to the 4 x 100m in athletics. My job is pretty straightforward; I ride the opening 250m lap of the three-lap race, towing my two teammates once around the velodrome before Craig Maclean continues to complete the second lap. He swings off to allow anchor man Jason Queally to complete the third and final lap on his own. Our time is taken when the third rider crosses the line. Two teams race head-to-head, "pursuit" style, with the fastest team progressing to the next round, in a knock-out format.

We have ridden together as a team for the last four years, but it is only in the last 18 months that we have really targeted the Olympic Sprint event and trained specifically for it. Sydney will be our first Olympics, but nevertheless the team has high aspirations, with a medal a real possibility and the gold not out of the question. The French team will undoubtedly pose the biggest challenge, as reigning World Champions, then there are the German and Australian trios not far behind. It is such an explosive event that hundredths of a second separate medal winners from also-rans. The time taken to complete the 750m will be around 45 seconds; a far cry from the thousands of miles spent in the saddle by Tour de France riders.

So far, the year has gone well for the boys and myself. Our Olympic year started back in December with a winter training camp in Florida. This was followed by more training in Lanzarote and Australia, where we trained on the Olympic velodrome in Bankstown, Sydney.

We have not raced a great deal this year, preferring to get in as much quality training as possible, however, we have managed to fit in the Moscow and Turin rounds of the World Cup series, winning silver and bronze medals respectively. The real build up will begin on August 5, when we head out to Brisbane for the first part of our final preparations. After the National Championships in Manchester last week, I will be continuing to have treatment on the tendonitis in my knee before heading out to Australia.

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 2 ...

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 3 ...

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 4 ...

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 5 ...