Hoy to be knighted

By Shane Stokes

One week after winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, it has emerged that Scottish rider Chris Hoy has been recommended for a knighthood for his stunning performances in Beijing.

Hoy won gold medals in the sprint, Keirin and team sprint at the Olympic Games, adding to the two gold medals and one silver he took at this year's world track championships in Manchester. Hoy previously won Olympic Gold for the kilo in Athens four years ago.

According to the Sunday Times, Hoy and many other Olympians will be recognised with various awards in the New Year Honours list for what was Britain's most successful Games campaign since 1908. The newspaper points out that it is very rare for a sportsperson to be awarded a knighthood during their careers; it cites the 1953 award to the jockey Sir Gordon Richards as one exception to that rule.

Swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who won two Olympic gold medals in Beijing, has been recommended for an OBE.

After spending much of his time post-Games fulfilling various commitments including lucrative sponsorship contracts, Hoy has returned to serious training. He is building up for next year's track worlds in Poland, and has said that he will also target more gold medals in the London Games in 2012.

British cyclists took a slew of medals at this year's Olympics. A total of eight golds were won on road and track, along with four silvers and two bronze medals. It was announced earlier this month that Sport England would practically double the funding to British Cycling for the 2009 to 2013 period, giving a 96% increase compared to the total for the previous four year span.