Hoy basks in golden glow as celebrity status goes into top gear

IF COMPARISONS with the Beckhams form a reliable guide to celebrity status then Chris Hoy has surely made it. His thighs have already been calculated as being wider than Posh Spice's waist, while a popular subject of conversation in bars is whether the cyclist can now claim to be bigger than Jesus. Or at least it's modern equivalent, which is bigger than David Beckham.

Billboard appearances in just a pair of underpants might not be his thing, but Hoy is set to reveal himself in other, perhaps braver ways.

There is the Hello photo spread, the appearance on A Question of Sport. And next Thursday comes the knee-knocking adventure of an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show. It is strictly A-list stuff. Beckham himself has already collared Hoy, and congratulated the cyclist on his booty of three Olympic gold medals after the closing ceremony in Beijing.

"He was really nice, and said 'well done'," recalls Hoy. "He said he had watched as much as he could of the games. I learnt after that he had been asked what his favourite moment of the games had been. He answered that it was when I won the Sprint, and then went up to see my dad in the stand. He said it reminded him of when he was starting out and his own dad was there supporting him in the stands. For someone like David Beckham to say that is pretty special."

A gold medal winner in Athens four years ago, Hoy was hardly an unknown when he boarded the plane for Beijing. But the stardom scale has clicked up a few gears since he returned home with three further gold medals. A crowd of over 50,000 was enticed out from classrooms, offices and pubs to welcome him and his fellow Scottish Olympic champions home to Edinburgh on Wednesday. Motorbike out-riders made up a scene likely to live in the memories of all who witnessed it. Hoy, too, was blown away. "It's such a nice feeling to think you can have an effect on people, particularly at this time," he said. "There's so much doom and gloom about the credit crunch and everyone has something to complain about. To go down the Royal Mile and see 50,000 people waving flags and sense the genuine pleasure they got from seeing the athletes in Beijing is one of the highlights of my life so far."

Such has been the Hoy effect that it would surprise no-one if Chris tops the most popular name chart next year. Or perhaps even Keirin. His fame has been the slow-burning sort, and Hoy seems perfectly able to withstand its rigorous demands. He did, understandably, flag on Wednesday night. An intention to go out in Edinburgh was shelved in favour of a few quiet glasses of wine at girlfriend Sarra's flat. There will be other nights to test the theory – promoted by those who have sensed the reaction when Hoy makes his way through a life less ordinary – that he won't have to buy a beer in his home town again. "After Athens I got a bit of attention but it died down pretty quickly," he reflects. "It was nothing like this. After Athens I could walk around Edinburgh all day and maybe one person might come up to me. Now, it's just bizarre."

His agent, Ricky Cowan, has to pedal fast just to keep up with all the media offers. His client is now so high-profile that it seems only a matter of time until the dread hand of Max Clifford is detected. You learn later that he has indeed joined Team Hoy.

"Next week is just crazy," says Hoy. "I am off down to London. I have The Jonathan Ross Show and A Question of Sport and some other programmes to do. Why does Jonathan Ross want to talk to me? I don't know what he's going to ask me. I have some trepidation. You have concerns about how you are going to perceived by the viewers, and what impression they will have. It would be pretty boring just talking about yourself and your sport. But then you don't want to try and be hilarious and make witty jokes, because you could just make an idiot of yourself. I think it could be quite daunting. But I would be silly not to take up the opportunity. Just to be asked to go on the show is a huge honour."

"One thing I wanted to do from day one is Top Gear, and do the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment" he continues. "We are trying to sort that out just now. That's the one thing I would like to do more than anything else. These are all fun things. I just want to do it now and get the crazy period over. But then you really have to get your head back on and continue with the job in hand. To maintain this standard you have to commit one hundred per cent. You can't just do a bit of this, a bit of media, and bit of training. You have to draw the line."

The line won't be drawn for a while yet, although Hoy is already itching to get back in the saddle. There are other ambitions he has left to fulfil, including making an attempt at the world 200 metre record. Then there is the world championships in March and the next Commonwealth Games in 2010. The home straight won't come until the twin-barreled finale of the London Olympics in 2012 and Commonwealth Games, to be held in Glasgow in 2014. Now 32, he believes his prime years could still be ahead.

"This year has been the best year of my life in terms of my performance on the bike," he says. "People say 'you are getting older'. I am getting older, but I am getting better. I am not necessarily expecting to improve year upon year until the next Olympics, but if I am able to replicate this form in four years' time, and possibly get a little better, then that would be fantastic. It would take a special performance to beat me if I can keep this going."

When Hoy was much younger, he might have dreamt of being on a maroon-coloured open-topped bus. But this would have been as member of a victorious Hearts team, and not as Britain's most successful athlete. The Tynecastle club were understandably quick to post reports of Hoy's Olympic heroics on their website. Owner Vladimir Romanov reckoned it was "like watching Hearts beat the Old Firm". Hoy is slightly uncomfortable about being described as a fan, and has not been at Tynecastle since he was invited to do a lap of honour on his return from Athens in 2004. There is sure to be another invite coming his way from Gorgie in the near future.

"Real Hearts fans, the guys who go week in and week out, see you as just a celebrity fan who knows nothing about the team," he says. "I hold my hand up and say the last full line-up I could be able to name was back in the mid-1980s.

"I was an avid fan as a kid. I was obsessional about them. As years go by you are not able to go to as many matches. As far as my supporting goes now it is just a matter of chasing the results on a Saturday and seeing how they are getting on. I don't follow football closely now," he continues. But I cried when they lost the league in 1986. I was distraught. That scarred me mentally and put me off football for the rest of my life."

• Chris Hoy is a BT Ambassador, and BT is an official partner of London 2012. The Ambassador programme is part of BT's long-standing commitment to education, coaching and mentoring. For more information www.bt.com/betterworld