CYCLIST Chris Hoy set his sights on winning three Olympic gold medals today – and promised to do a dance on live TV if he succeeds.
He achieved his first Beijing gold as one of the three riders who comfortably defeated world champions France in the men's team sprint at the Laoshan Velodrome.
Edinburgh-born Hoy, 32, insisted there was "still plenty in the tank" as he prepared f
or tomorrow's keirin event and the individual men's sprint.
The cyclist, who won gold in the 1km time trial at Athens in 2004, admitted to getting "a bit emotional" on the podium today.
He also paid tribute to his team mates Jamie Staff, 35, from Ashford, Kent, and Jason Kenny, 20, from Bolton.
"Our friendship has been so dominant in the last few years. As part of a team, you can't let anyone down," he said.
The British trio set an unofficial record in qualifying of 42.950 seconds on a 750m track.
They were a tad slower in the final but still came in over half a second faster than the French, with a time of 43.128 seconds.
There is no world record for the team sprint because the event is held over three laps regardless of the size of the track.
The result was especially satisfying for Hoy and Staff because they lost to France in the World Championships final in March.
Hoy said: "To beat them by half a second made it that exciting.
"Honestly, it took every inch of effort in beating the French, who have been invincible.
"The French have been so dominant. We have really put all the pieces of the jigsaw together. We really focused on the details.
"To stick half a second into them, it's amazing."
Insisting he was still hungry for more Games glory, he said: "There's still plenty in the tank. At the end of the week, if I get three (golds), I'll do a dance for you and that's a promise."
Staff, a former BMX racer who led off the British team, said: "It hasn't sunk in yet, it's weird, but mostly exciting.
"We were very disappointed after Athens (where they finished fifth). I've given absolutely everything I could into it and it paid off."
Kenny, a rising star in the British track team who is competing in his first Olympics, said he "could not believe it" when he saw they had posted a sub-43 second time in qualifying.
"When I looked up at the board I thought I must have read it wrong," he said.
The full article contains 437 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
