Q: 18 May 2011 marks one year to go to the Olympic Torch Relay. How important is the Relay in taking the spirit of the Olympic Games into communities across the country?
The Torch Relay is a fantastic way of taking the Olympic Flame and everything it stands for into communities. It’s important that the majority of the country has access to seeing it and in 2012, 95 percent of the country will have the Flame travelling through within an hour of their home, which is great.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the country will be able to go to the Olympic Games, so the Torch Relay is great for bringing the Olympics closer to the whole country. I think the Flame is a very powerful device to inspire people.
Q: Going back to Beijing, what was the first thing that went through your mind when you won gold in 2008?
It was a mixture of relief, excitement and pride. I tried to take it all in, to remember the moment. But about an hour after the medal ceremonies, press conferences and celebrations I was already thinking about London 2012.
Q: How hard has it been to keep yourself motivated since?
London 2012 will probably be my last Olympics and it gives me the opportunity to sign off in the best possible fashion. But aside from that the opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd is something not many athletes get in their lifetime and so it’s not difficult to stay motivated.
It has been hard at times because the training is tough and there are so many other demands on your time, but I am totally committed to my goals in London and it is such an imminent target now..
Q: What are your aspirations for London 2012?
As an athlete you always want to win and your target has to be a gold medal. At the World Championships recently I won three medals but none of them were gold and while I wasn’t too disappointed with that, there were things I could have done better there. You can't be too disappointed with three medals out of three events, but my target is to win all the competitions I enter; that is what I aspire to and my goal for London 2012 is the same.
Q: Other teams seem to have been catching up since Beijing, and especially at the World Championships earlier this year. What can you do to stay ahead?
I think that, certainly for me, it is inevitable that people would catch up after Beijing because it is impossible to keep up the same level of performance year on year. If you win the Olympics then in the following year the people who lost are inevitably going to come out harder to try to beat you. It is nearly impossible for you to keep the same level for another four years right up until another Olympic Games.
All I can do is make sure that I am in the best possible shape and leave no stone unturned because I know that if I ride the best race I can and am in the best shape possible it is going to take a very good ride to beat me..
Q: What other sportsmen inspire you and why?
There are quite a few sportsmen who inspire me. Gavin Hastings is one, the Scotland rugby player who I looked up to when I was younger. Another is Graeme Obree – the Scottish cyclist. He built his own bike, invented a new, streamlined seating position and became World Champion with not a lot of support behind him. I really admire Roger Federer too, not just because of how he keeps on winning year on year but how he handles himself off the court too, whether he wins or loses.
Sir Steve Redgrave for his ability to compete in such a physically hard sport as rowing across such a long period of time and with such success. That is an inspiration to any athlete. . I was also inspired by Colin McCrae who was such a great ambassador for rallying and got me interested in the sport when I was younger.
Q: Can you give us a brief overview of your training regime?
In terms of my training I work on a four year cycle and you can break it down from there into a yearly cycle. Within each year you have a plan working towards whatever the big target is for that season.
It depends on what stage of the season we’re at, but a typical training day could start with a two hour gym session, focusing on strength with heavy weights on the lower body. Then it would be on to the track for a three hour session in the afternoon involving a number of different components per session.
Q: What is your preparation ahead of a big competition?
Final preparation for a race starts about three weeks out from the competition when you start to taper for the event. This involves reducing the volume of training so as to allow your body to rest and recover between sessions. That means you feel fresher for each session and you get more out of it and makes sure you are in good shape for the competition itself. It’s a technique used across most sports.