Going for gold

ONE of the greatest cyclists of all time, Sir Chris Hoy admits he feels kind of silly on reflection concerning “all those sleepness nights, about riding a bike in a circle”.

But that’s the mark of a champion. He ropes in the likes of Sir Steve Redgrave, Rebecca Adlington, Lennox Lewis, Graeme Obree and Andy Murray to give their thoughts about the tactics and motivation which help top sportspeople to become Olympic podium-toppers.

Hoy started out with a jumble sale bike, decorated with stickers which fell apart after a couple of days. Next, came a neighbour’s bike, which just happened to have a girl’s frame.

“That didn’t last long either,” laughs his dad, David Hoy. “So we were forced into buying him a proper racing bike.

That was it. He was on his way to world domination.”

Hoy is now the most accomplished living British Olympian, with a recordbreaking six Olympic Gold medals under his belt before deciding to quit at the age of 36.

“The success I had never stopped surprising me because I don’t think I was simply born a champion,” Hoy explains.

“I don’t think anyone is. I want to show you how champions are made, through endless hard work and determination, by victory and defeat, by brain as well as brawn, by great teams and amazing support. And if I can do it, anyone can, because we all start off with a chance of winning gold.”

Redgrave, for example, was picked out at school by a teacher for having big hands and feet to make him suitable for rowing, while last year’s Wimbledon Champion Murray discusses the pressure of expectation. “I found it difficult for a few years, because that first year when I played Wimbledon, I was ranked like 350 in the world, and I’d been playing in front of like ten people before that when I was playing matches.

“There was no one there, and then all of a sudden I was on the centre court at Wimbledon in front of 15,000 people.”

Here he discusses how he dealt with the nation’s hopes for him before becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years.

Hive Alive
(BBC2, 8pm)

Chris Packham and Martha Kearney conclude their quest to discover more about the world of bees with Professor Adam Hart who agrees to be stung by one just to see what happens (apart from the rest of us hiding behind a handy sofa cushion).

Aside from discovering how many of the tagged insects have survived over the frenetic midsummer week of nectar and pollen gathering, they find out if they have collected enough food at this critical time to see them through the winter.

Undercover Boss
(Channel 4, 9pm)

Mark Goldring is the latest covert big cheese trying to find out more about his company at a grass-roots level.

Awarded a CBE for his life’s work tackling poverty, he’s responsible for Oxfam’s balance sheet. However, with income down by £18million in a year, the CEO goes undercover to find out whether the organisation is raising the maximum amount of money possible – and spending it wisely.

He’s amazed to discover flaws that could be costing huge sums, and shocked to find his British staff are worried about their jobs.

Trekking around the world to a frontline disaster zone, Goldring is horrified by the treacherous conditions his staff are working in.