Olympic legend Hoy retires from cycling

British cycling's all-time great calls time on a golden career.

Britain's most successful Olympian Chris Hoy is to retire from track cycling having exhausted "every last ounce of effort and energy", the six-time Games gold medal winner said yesterday.

Hoy, 37, has decided against competing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in his native Scotland.

"I am officially announcing my retirement. It was not a decision I took easily or lightly, but I know it's the right decision," Hoy said in Edinburgh. "Nothing would give me more pleasure than going to Glasgow, but I don't want to be there for the numbers. Being objective, I got every last drop out in London. Now it's time for younger riders to experience what it is like to compete in front of a home crowd."

Hoy won his first Olympic gold in the 1-kilometer time trial at the Athens Games in 2004 and followed up four years later by winning three in Beijing in the team sprint, keirin and sprint, the first Briton since 1908 to win three gold at one Games.

Last year in London he secured two more golds in the team sprint, helping clock a world-record time, and keirin to overtake rower Steve Redgrave as the Briton with the most gold medals.

Fellow British cyclist Bradley Wiggins has also won seven Olympic medals with Hoy ahead of the Tour de France winner on "gold difference".

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said Hoy's tears of joy after clinching his sixth Games gold was the defining moment of London 2012.

Hoy, who also won a silver medal in the team sprint at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and 11 world titles, has been at the forefront of British cycling success in recent years.

Britain won seven of the 10 track cycling gold medals up for grabs in London, equalling its 2008 tally.

Hoy received a knighthood in 2008 and is known as Sir Chris.

Britain's multiple Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish led the tributes to Hoy, saying: "I could not have hoped for a better face to represent my sport through these growing years."

British Cycling president Brian Cookson said, "The impact that Sir Chris Hoy has had on our sport since he won his first gold medal in Athens in 2004 is unparalleled."

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