What inspires you? Setting ambitious goals to work hard towards, and breaking these down into smaller, more achievable ones. This means you always feel like you’re moving forwards, making progress. A four-year Olympic goal can feel insurmountable unless you break down, and it keeps the motivation high as each new gym PB or threshold measure is a little victory! If you had to choose one sport outside your specialty what would you do? Motor racing and aiming for Le Mans which became a reality at the weekend. It’s surprisingly similar to track cycling in terms of the preparation and attention to detail needed in everything you do, to be successful. And I still need to stay hydrated and use caffeine for a bit of extra focus! If I could run I would have loved to have been the fastest man on earth (well on my feet as opposed to two wheels!) and done the 100 metres sprint at the Olympics. It’s the blue ribbon event, and you are undisputedly the fastest. What sports do you follow and enjoy watching? Motor Racing/ F1. Rallying, cycling endurance racing and rugby union. Riding the Tour de France would have been great to do, although I’m not sure I’d have been able to sprint at the end of some of those stages! Your proudest moment? Winning my 6th Olympic gold medal at London 2012 in front of a home crowd. The atmosphere was electric, I’ll never forget that. Advice you would give to someone looking into getting into sport, recreational or professional? Make a plan, set goals and break them down into small steps which are more achievable. Whether it’s trying to get into running and complete your first 5km, tackle your first sportive or try something like a triathlon, small goals help to keep you focused and motivated. What’s your favourite Science in Sport product to bring you to the top of your game prior to events? I wish WHEY20 had been around for more of my career! They’re great, they give you 20g of protein including an impressive 6g of branch chain amino acids which are key for muscle building. They are so convenient to pop in your pocket and take to training, very tasty and just what I need after the gym. What do you eat and drink before and after events? I eat a meal 2 hours before a big event, I would also use GO-Hydro for hydration and GO Energy, as well as GO Isotonic gel’s in between rounds of an event, and during it now I do more miles out on the road. Post event I would use REGO Rapid Recovery powder for replenishing energy and muscle rebuilding, or WHEY20 after the gym. I still train a bit most days! Who’s your sporting hero and why? Graeme Obree – he achieved world records and was world champion when there was no support from national federations, his determination and drive are inspirational to me. Like me he was driven to find every marginal gain he could, and even built his own bikes, famously using the bearings out of his washing machine! How do you prepare for an event? By making sure every box is ticked and leaving nothing to chance, being prepared allows me to be confident on race day. Did you dream about being an Olympic athlete as a child? Yes but I never thought it would happen What challenges have you overcome to be an Olympic athlete? I wasn’t the best at sport at school, but over time and with lots of hard work I pushed myself to become the best. I have sustained injuries and setbacks throughout my career but the team around me helped me overcome them. How does it feel representing your country? It’s an amazing experience to put on the team kit and be performing for your country at a world level. What’s on your playlist? I like lots of songs, the one that really gets me motivated is ‘You Can Do It’ by Ice Cube Written By Sir Chris Hoy
