Chris Hoy's girlfriend Sarra joins Capital crowd to welcome home her hero

SHE will just be another face in the crowd. But when the open top bus carrying Scotland's Olympic heroes weaves its way past the Edinburgh crowds today, no-one will be quite as proud as Sarra Kemp.

On board will be Scotland's latest sporting hero – her boyfriend and the country's greatest Olympian, Chris Hoy.

"I can't wait to see him," she says, speaking at the end of a week which saw the fastest man on two wheels sprint to an unprecedented three gold medals in Beijing.

"We've hardly had a chance – the last few days have been manic. What I want now is to see Chris on the bus enjoying his moment. I'm sure he'll be surprised when he realises the impact here of what he's done."

The 28-year-old lawyer joined Hoy's family trackside in Beijing as he powered to his way to triple gold medal history. And Sarra will again watch from the sidelines today as Chris leads the Scottish contingent of Team GB on their victoriou homecoming in the Capital.

Yet it is touch and go whether the busy personal litigation lawyer will be able to snatch time away from her job with major city law firm Balfour and Manson to witness the key moment in Scottish sporting history.

"I'm not thinking I'll get near the bus and I rather suspect you have to have a gold medal or actually be an athlete to get on board," she laughs. "So I'll be on the pavement probably waving a big sign saying 'call me!'."

Sarra sat beside Chris's parents and his six months pregnant sister in the Beijing velodrome for each nail-biting race and was captured on television pictures in an ecstatic embrace with her victorious boyfriend.

The couple clung to each other and whispered 'I love you', while Chris's shoulders shuddered as he fought to keep his emotions in check after his final race.

Today she revealed the public shows of affection were rare moments with the Olympic hero since well before he headed to the Chinese games.

She said: "It was wonderful to be there but we hardly had a moment together.

"The first time I saw him in China was when he was in the centre area of the velodrome preparing for his first race, he was just this little dot in the middle of it all. Even if we could have got closer we wouldn't have dared interrupt him.

"Then after each event, he went back to the Olympic village, and we went back to the flat we rented.

"There wasn't even that much of a celebration at the end because Chris was just completely exhausted."

The devoted couple met two years ago through mutual friends on a night out at the Grand Cru bar in Hanover Street.

But despite Chris already holding an Olympic cycling gold and silver medals, a clutch of World Championship titles and Commonwealth gold and bronze medals, she admits she didn't know who he was.

"I didn't have a clue. We got chatting then someone mentioned an Olympic gold medal," she says.

Soon it became clear their relationship would have to survive long periods apart as 32-year-old Chris pumped all his energy into training at the cycling squad's Manchester base and spent winters training in Australia.

She said: "I suppose it's been a nice way to get to know each other because you end up really looking forward to weekends. We both put everything into our jobs during the week but it means the weekends are time for us to concentrate on being with each other. That said, he never really stops training – Christmas and birthdays!"

Sarra managed to get to Beijing only after Chris's father managed to secure her a last gasp tickets from sponsors.

"I couldn't imagine what it would have been like sitting at home watching it all," she says.

But she was blissfully unaware that three million Scots were doing the same back home, willing the boy who became hooked on BMX bikes only to discover an unstoppable passion for track racing at the city's doomed Meadowbank Velodrome on to three astonishing victories.

"We really didn't know that there was this frenzy at home," she explains. "We were so wrapped up in what was happening. It has been incredible to see how people responded."

At trackside, Sarra battled to stay calm as she watched Chris push his body to the limit to crack his first race, the team sprint.

"It was so nerve-wracking watching him, your heart is pounding, the adrenalin is pumping, you're incredibly nervous because you want him to do well and you want him to be safe because accidents can happen.

"It was incredibly emotional to see him win the gold in the first race."

The second race – the Keiran – was every bit as tense. Chris is world champion twice over, but Sarra admits there were times she could barely watch.

The tension was at a peak when Sarra and Chris's proud family returned to the velodrome to witness his final achievement – winning gold in the individual sprint.

Since then Chris has been in constant demand for media interviews, touted for a knighthood and suggested as a potential winner of the prestigious Sportsperson of the Year title. He's even been name-checked as a sporting hero by David Beckham and tribute groups have sprung up on social network internet sites extolling his physique – each thigh measures a massive 27ins – as much as his sporting prowess.

"I never dreamed in a million years that this would be happening," confesses Sarra. "Chris is a very genuine guy and I think he'll be surprised too at the reaction."

The couple plan to take time to enjoy a break from training before a romantic holiday in November followed by a return to serious training.

While Chris's achievements may have inspired a nation of young boys to pester parents for a new bike – "my boss says his son is desperate now for a BMX and it's Chris's fault," Sarra laughs – she has no plans to join him hurtling around a track on two wheels.

"I do have a bike but I'd struggle to keep up with Chris," she smiles. "I think he's just a bit too quick for me."

Hoy says he'd love to race for Scotland
OLYMPIC hero Chris Hoy today insisted he would love to race for Scotland and hear a Scottish national anthem as he stepped onto the Olympic podium.

The cyclist, who scooped three gold medals at the Beijing games, said his much-quoted comment that the idea of a Scottish Olympic team was "ridiculous" had been misunderstood.

The 32-year-old, who will take part in a victory parade down the Royal Mile today, said his only concern had been about the lack of facilities available to Olympic athletes in Scotland.

He told the Evening News: "I've never been more proud then when I represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and heard Scotland the Brave on the podium – it was one of the highlights of my career.

"If there ever was a Scottish Olympic team, obviously I'd be incredibly proud to represent Scotland, but my point is that at the moment there are no facilities for track cycling that you can train on 12 months of the year, so where would we train? It wouldn't be possible.

"But, if it ever was, of course I'd love to represent Scotland at the Olympic Games."

First Minister Alex Salmond has called for a Scottish Olympic team to be created, but Hoy said the idea was putting the cart before the horse: "Before any politicians start calling for a Scottish Olympic team you have to start investing in the infrastructure."

Hoy has been an outspoken critic of plans to scrap Meadowbank Velodrome, where he trained as a part of the City of Edinburgh Racing Club. It is set to be demolished by Edinburgh Council and replaced by a national cycling arena in Glasgow.

He said that even with the creation of a new track in Glasgow, there was a need for facilities in Edinburgh.

"I don't think they need to have an all-singing all-dancing multi-million pound facility. They could have 200-metre track in a tin box and training facilities that elite athletes can train in several months of the year, but anyone who fancies a shot can come down and try it out."

He also recalled his own first memory of the Meadowbank Velodrome – a moment which changed his life: "I think it was about 1992 and after I'd finished my BMX racing and was trying different disciplines in cycling.

"I remember walking through the tunnel and walking out and seeing this incredible track and thinking how terrifying it looked, and how exciting it looked.

"Within three minutes I was riding round the top and knowing straight away that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

Hoy was due to join other Scottish medallists Katherine Grainger, Ross Edgar and David Florence for an open-top bus parade from Castle Esplanade to Holyrood Palace at 1.30pm today. He said he was "hugely excited" to be home, but scotched ideas that he could earn millions from sponsorship deals now.

"Nothing like that, but there's been a lot of stuff in the past couple of days – a lot of calls coming in to my agent. It's certainly going to be easier now to get sponsorship than it was before."

I MISS EDINBURGH – IT'S DIFFICULT TO MOVE FROM THE PLACE YOU LOVE
Are your thighs insured? "No they're not, I've got nothing like that. Maybe I'll think about it more now."

Is it true that your team-mates nicknamed you Hoycules? "Yeah, they did a bit of Mickey-taking and that started to stick. But I can think of worse things to be called."

What's been your most bizarre moment since the end of the Games? "Having my sister on the phone saying she got stopped in her local supermarket in Northampton by the manager, who gave her a free bottle of champagne."

How was the gold-nosed plane you flew home in? "Getting to travel in first class was pretty special, sitting a couple of rows behind Princess Anne, and getting to sleep in a flat bed, because we'd only had two hours sleep the night before because of the party after the closing ceremony."

How much do you miss Edinburgh? "I miss it massively – it's my home, so it's difficult to have to move away from the place that you love and your family and friends. Every time I come up the M6 over the hill into Hillend and you see the lights there it's just a great feeling."