Chris Hoy's preparations ahead of his
attempt to break the world kilometre record have been affected after his
arrival in La Paz
was delayed.
Hoy, 31, is
aiming to better Arnaud Tournant's high-altitude mark of 58.875 seconds - but
has been stranded in another part of Bolivia. The BBC's Jill Douglas, who is waiting in La Paz with a documentary team, said Hoy was stuck in Santa Cruz. Hoy is due to make his world 1km record
attempt on Saturday. Earlier, Hoy had explained how apprehensive
he was about the bid.
"There are
nerves at pushing myself to the limits at 3,400m above sea-level and the horror
stories you hear.
"The
apprehension in some part is down to doing something I've never done before at
this altitude," he said.
The record
attempt - at La Paz's
aging Velodromo Alto Irpavi - will be Hoy's last hurrah at the kilo, which has
been controversially scrapped from the Beijing Olympics next year.
"All
the preparations have gone well - better than expected," he said.
"I've not done a lot on the track, more on the static bike.
"There is
the weather factor to be considered which I have to say has been a concern.
"There
could be a problem if there is any kind of wind. But we won't really know that
until we pedal on to the track.
"I've been
told that they are now expecting more than two thousand spectators on Saturday
which should generate some atmosphere.
"But I
can't be sure whether they are turning out to see a world record being broken
or a madman in action!"
Hoy's Olympic
record of 1.00.711, set in Athens,
is the fastest time ever at sea level.
Source: BBC RSS
