CHRIS HOY UNAVAILABLE FOR DELHI

Article By: Richard Moore
Posted On: 28 July 2010

Hoy's absence will almost certainly reduce the Scottish medal count, while also depriving the team of its talisman, an athlete who - as Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh noted, describing Hoy as "an inspirational ambassador" - was expected to be more than just a member of the squad.

The four-time Olympic champion has had his hand forced by the late addition to the cycling calendar of a European championship. The new event is yet to be officially announced by cycling's governing body, the UCI, but Hoy understands that it will be held in early November, with the venue rumoured to be St Petersburg. Crucially, the European championships - unlike the Commonwealth Games - will offer Olympic qualification points, and, as Hoy explained, he cannot take the risk of allowing his rivals to gain a head start on him in the brief eighteen-month period that counts towards the London Games, where he will be aiming to defend all three of his Olympic titles.

"It's a decision that's been forced on me by the nature of the qualification process for the London Olympics," said Hoy. "The Olympics has to take precedence over everything. I could turn up at the Commonwealth Games in October, but it'd hamper my preparation for the European championships. And I wouldn't be at 100 per cent. The standard at the Commonwealth Games is so high that 95 per cent wouldn't be good enough, and it would be disrespectful to the event and the Scottish team."

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