Two years and counting
FOUR-TIME Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy began the two-year countdown for London 2012 yesterday and admitted: “I had goose bumps”.
Sir Chris, 33, became the first person to cycle the Olympic Velodrome after riding mock-up circuits on a temporary track as part of a series of special events across the capital.
At the same time, another four-time gold medalist, 400m champion Michael Johnson, ran alongside local school children on a temporary track in the Olympic Stadium, while former NBA star John Amaechi shot hoops at the partially-build basketball arena.
Hoy, who was knighted after winning a hat-trick of golds in Beijing in 2008, helped design the new velodrome and is already dreaming of adding to his tally of gold medals in two years’ time.
Joined by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Hoy said: “To me now the Games are coming alive.
“Just walking in here you get the feeling that this is an Olympic venue. This is where it is going to take place and hopefully where I will win one more Olympic gold medal.
“Just looking up at the stand and even the cheers from the construction workers, you can feel what it will be like when it is full to the rafters and being in an Olympic final. You can really sense it is getting more enthusiastic – two years to go, I can’t wait.”
In a race started by London 2012 chief Seb Coe, Michael Johnson was beaten by a cluster of excited school children at the Olympic Stadium.
He added: “It’s great to be in the stadium and to visualise what is going to be taking place in two years. These kids are all very excited about the Olympics. People in London will have that memory for the rest of their lives.”
Coe and Boris Johnson later joined Sports Minister Hugh Robertson and British Olympic chairman Colin Moynihan to launch an appeal for 70,000 volunteers to work at the Games, while a day-long celebration event with interactive games for the public took place at Trafalgar Square.