Tag Archives: olympics

In this show I interview Katie Archibald, who should need no introduction – multiple European champion on the track, a gold medallist in the Team Pursuit at the Rio olympics and recently crowned World Champion in the omnium.

Listen on the player below:

Or listen on Apple Podcasts:

I net Katie during a talk to 3 primary schools – Ladywell, St Bernadette’s and another Motherwell school. She was there to encourage them to have a shot on their bikes, down at the velodrome or on the course at the Motherwell Tour Series on Tuesday 23rd May.

Katie Archibald talk to school children in Motherwell

I’ll be there in a work capacity, for my employers Robertson Group, a construction company that have contracts with North Lanarkshire Council, who are hosting the race. I hope to catch up with some of you on the day.

Katie Archibald, Ladywell Primary, Tour Series Motherwell launch
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Scottish cyclists: Fiona Duncan and Lora Turnham

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Scottish athlete  Fiona Duncan is competing in the London 2012 Paralympics as pilot for blind cyclist Lora Turnham.

Liverpool born Turnham came to cycling in 2009 after starting out in athletics, but despite the late start, the pair won have had medal success in their first competitions together.

The progression continued in 2011 when, with Fiona Duncan as her tandem pilot, the pair won silver in the 3km pursuit at the Worlds in Italy after just six weeks together, and then gold on the road in the time trial at the World Cup in Spain in June of this year.

Fiona_Lora_Tandem02

I must admit I am not familiar with the form book for all the athletes but it sounds like they have a good chance of success. I asked Fiona what the expectations were and she was modest, saying “We will do our best and see what happens”

Their main event is the 3km tandem pursuit and the road time trial.

Best of luck!

schedule:
31st August 1km TT
2nd sept 3km pursuit
5th Sept road TT
8th Sept Road Race

Fiona_Lora_Tandem01

Andy MacLeod: Torch Bearer

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Two of my most rewarding blog pieces from last year charted Andy Macleod’s story from MTB and trials enthusiast through his ordeal to his ‘comeback‘ with more zest than a Lapierre carbon all-mountain bike.

Andy had to keep it under wraps for a while but his nomination to carry the flame was successful and he will be proudly running on his carbon/titanium leg the Olympic flame in Forfar on 12 June. Big well done to Andy.

He is the master at throwing himself at a challenge, focusing on the positives and overcoming adversity. A quote from his facebook page:
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”
― Bruce Lee


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Exclusive interview with Chris Hoy by @roadphil

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Phil Jones had the opportunity to meet and talk to Chris Hoy at the Manchester Velodrome today and went prepared with some very well-informed questions.

The most interesting question for me was one I had asked Phil to ask: is the Chris Hoy twitter a genuine account and what are his plans for it? (Hoy doesn’t tweet currently) Apparently this is all being sorted out and he’ll be launching a new website and social media presence in the very near future, so watch this space. Exciting!

Click the following link to find out which of Phil Jones questions were answered by Chris Hoy. There’s an interesting hint about a possible future kilo record attempt in Mexico.


(image by Richard Parmiter from Flickr creative commons)

As well as being a cyclist, Phil Jones is a Director of the UK subsidiary of global technology manufacturer Brother, and is also a Director and Vice-President of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce representing over 5,300 NW businesses. Thanks for letting me repost some of the info.

(moving) pic of the day: Craig Maclean Standing Start

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The screenshot below from the short documentary film Standing Start, featuring Craig Maclean.

Craig Mclean, Team Sprint

Craig Mclean, Standing Start ©imagine pictures

The video can’t be embedded but you can click through to youtube and watch it in high quality.

Shots of Maclean’s track cycling as he trains for the Olympics are set against a voice-over of the epic story of Odysseus, along with a tense soundtrack. It’s maybe a bit over-dramatic but I’m all in favour of artistic or creative interpretations of sports footage. The film captures a contrast between long hours of punishing training to the short, explosive team sprint.

PS Craig Maclean is #8 on my Top 10 Scottish Cyclists of All Time.
PPS I never knew Craig played the drums.

Standing Start was produced by Adrian McDowall and Finlay Pretsell for Scottish Cycling and is © imagine pictures.

Sir Chris Hoy – domination and emotion

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I stumbled across this video of Chris Hoy winning his second of three gold medals in the keirin in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He utterly demolishes the opposition as he goes nearly 2 bike lengths clear with over a lap remaining.

The reaction of his family and friends as he pulls clear from the pack on the penultimate lap, and then the cut to the bagpipes after the finish has the hairs on my scalp standing up and a moisture in the eye.

Sir Chris Hoy returns to action in the British Track Nationals this weekend at the Manchester velodrome.

Sir Chris Hoy will head a strong Scottish contingent at the National Track Championships in Manchester from Tuesday, October 20 to Saturday, October 24. The 33-year-old has confirmed his intention to compete in the individual sprint and the Keirin and could also contest the team sprint as part of the Sky HD squad.

Hoy, who recently accused the BBC of ‘patronising’ the GB cycling team and treating cyclists like ‘performing monkeys’ on the night that he won the Sports Personality of the Year award, had a successful return from injury at a high-quality meeting in France two months ago.

Since then the triple Olympic gold medallist has focused on regaining full fitness and is looking forward to testing himself against domestic opposition before his first international outing of the new season.