DOUG GILLON and ALISON CAMPSIE

It took a mother's words to make Chris Hoy realise what he had just achieved.

Carol Hoy was among the first to hug Scotland's new Olympic hero moments after he had won his third gold medal of the Beijing games.

And as she waited for her son to take his place on the winner's podium, an ecstatic Mrs Hoy told The Herald how Chris had darted over to his family after claiming the seismic victory.

He had told her: "I'm absolutely thrilled. I can't believe it, I can't believe it."

Mrs Hoy, 60, said: "I told him: Believe it boy'."

Hoy's parents Carol and David, from Edinburgh, his heavily pregnant sister Carrie, 35, and lawyer girlfriend Sarra Kemp, 28, weeped at the trackside after the cyclist coolly sprinted over the finish line, pushing his teamate Jason Kenny into second place in the final inches.

The celebrations in the huge Laoshan Velodrome were matched only by those back home in Scotland where friends and cycling colleagues toasted his success.

Among those watching the action in Beijing were Tony Blair and family After the race, Mrs Hoy joyfully recalled how it was a £5 BMX bought from a jumble sale which set her son on the road to Olympic glory.

"I bought that first bike from Trinity Church Hall in Edinburgh. I couldn't come back on the bus, so I had to get a friend to come and collect it. A big thanks to whoever donated that. I was going to try and haggle, but because it was for a good cause I thought I'd better not. It was for St Columba's Hospice.

"He'd be five and had just learned to ride. Much to my great shame, it wasn't me who taught him. He learned to ride the bike in the old quad of Napier University in Colinton Road. It took him an afternoon."

The family exchanged happy memories of Chris as a child as they waited for him to take his medal.

Sister Carrie, who is nearly six months pregnant, said the excitement had not been too much for her. "It was good excitement . . . I'm so proud. It's fantastic. Watching him and seeing that smile on his face. It looks as if it's sinking in a wee bit now. I'm hugely proud and exceptionally happy for him."

Friends and supporters of the 32-year-old, who had gathered at Edinburgh's Grosvenor hotel to watch the race, cheered and applauded as Hoy achieved his historic treble.

Hoy's conditioning coach, Dave Clark, said that the cyclist had focused on building up strength with an intensive weight-training programme.

"Chris has applied himself to his training unstintingly," he said, adding that he "taught himself a new trade" after his preferred event, the 1km time trial, was not available at this Olympics. "He's a terrific athlete to work with and also an inspiration for other younger athletes coming through."

Cyclist Marco Librizzi, who has known Hoy since he was 15, said he was "staggered" by his friend's success.

Librizzi, a former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, said: "It's just fantastic what he's done. It's absolutely mind-blowing what he's achieved."

He said Hoy had been feeling positive before heading out to Beijing and had recorded good times in training. "It's 15/20 years of absolute dedication, leaving no stone unturned, focusing on everything, setting goals and chasing them all the time.

"He just doesn't let go."

James McCallum, also a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, agreed that yesterday's result meant so much to everybody involved in the sport.

McCallum, who now works with Scottish Cycling, said: "It has been quite a niche sport but now it's out there to be picked up by the public and I hope that this will inspire future athletes."

He also echoed calls for Hoy to become "Sir Chris". McCallum said: "He deserves it, doesn't he? He's the greatest Olympian Scotland's ever had."

At Westminster last night, Pete Wishart, the SNP's spokesman on sport, called for Chris Hoy to be awarded a knighthood after the Scot's record fourth gold medal.

"This was a stunning performance from Chris Hoy, who had the whole of Scotland on the edge of their seats," said the Perth MP.

Hi-tech kit gives British athletes the edge
Britain's Olympians have been helped to their amazing haul of medals in Beijing by innovative clothing which the manufacturers claim improves athletes' speed and power output.

Though kit is not significantly different in cut or style from recent Olympics, new fabrics have been used to keep competitors' bodies cool in the heat and humidity of the Chinese capital.

Team GB have also been using a new material developed by kit-maker Adidas which give extra elastic power to their muscles.

The material, TechFit PowerWeb, uses thermoplastic urethane - a type of polymer - which provides support to key muscle groups.

Bands of the material are fitted inside special shorts and tops worn by the competitors, and act like springs to help the contraction and expansion of muscles.

Tests carried out at the University of Calgary showed the material could improve explosive power and give faster sprint times.

The team kit was tailored for each sport, and a spokeswoman for Adidas said all the British athletes had been personally fitted for TechFit.

100 years ago it was all so very different
IT has been 100 years since a Briton won three gold medals at one Olympic Games.

Freestyle swimmer Henry Taylor, a Lancashire man, took the honour at the 1908 London event after he triumphed in the 1500m, 400m and 200m relay races.

While Taylor, who died in 1951, and Hoy share the glory, the two sportsmen could not have competed at more different competitions. In Taylor's day tug o' war and bicycle polo were still recognised sports, with organisers more worried about the risk of athletes drunk on brandy rather than the effect of performance-enhancing drugs.

Britain's Olympic task at bringing home the gold was possibly a little easier in 1908, when 22 sports were on the programme and just 22 nations took part.

This compares to the 192 independent countries and 12 territories fighting it out for a space on the winners' podium today in Beijing.

The difference in budgets was also immense. The 1908 event was hosted at a cost of £20,000 with the £60,000 bill for the 70,000-seat stadium footed by organisers of the neighbouring Franco-British Exhibition. The complex became known as White City.

London pulled the event together in just 10 months. The Olympics were meant to have been held in Rome, but the Italians pulled out after Vesuvius erupted and reconstruction costs were taken from the Olympics budget.