SCOTLAND’S most-decorated Olympian has revealed Sir Chris Hoy sent him “a lovely message” for breaking his record.
Swimmer Duncan Scott now has eight Olympic medals following the Paris Olympics, one more than the Scots cycling star, who earned seven medals, six golds and one silver, during his competitive career.
On Wednesday, Scott attended an Access To Pools For All session in his home town of Stirling at The Peak, a leisure facility that has received National Lottery funding to give children a place to learn how to swim.
Speaking to the media during the event, Scott, 27, was asked if he had spoken to Hoy since overtaking him as Scotland’s most decorated Olympian.
He said: “He sent me a lovely message. I’ve not had time, obviously, being back here, you know, we don’t want to bother each other, but he sent me a lovely message and, as I say, he’s someone that I’ve looked up to for many years.”
Asked how he is feeling now that he has the record for most medals in Scotland, Scott said: “Yeah, it’s quite an odd sentence to hear. You know, growing up with so many great sporting idols and so many greats from Scotland as well, that I’ve been able to watch on TV.
“And, you know, from Andy Murray being a real hero of mine to Sir Chris Hoy, someone that I grew up watching dominate on the world stage, Olympics after Olympics.
“To kind of be in that sort of company is quite a strange one for me to hear, but it’s been an amazing competition. I’m really, really happy.”
Scott said leaving a legacy is not something that athletes often set out to achieve.
He said: “I think that’s a real privilege of the sport. And you know, if it’s that thing of inspiring the next generation, then that’s a real bonus.”
The real legacy, he continued, is that the Olympics inspires more people to try a sport for the first time.
He said his recent win was “really special” as many of his friends and family were able to be there in person, compared with Tokyo in 2021, where none of his loved ones were able to attend because of the pandemic lockdowns.
He added: “Being in Paris, you know, it meant they were able to have a really big British crowd. And yeah, my family and friends took real advantage of that.”
Asked if he is expecting to compete in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, Scott said: “Well, that’s a wee while away but, you know, from between now and then, there’s no need for me to come close to stopping any time soon.
“I’ll be as good as I can get at the minute and there’s so many areas that I can improve on, so much in the sport that I’ve not achieved and I’ll try as well as I can to be in that team in LA.”
Scott claimed his eighth Olympic medal by taking silver in the men’s 200 metres individual medley final in Paris, following his gold in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. The swimmer already had a gold and five silvers from the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
He is joint second on the Team GB medal-winners list with cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins (five gold, one silver, two bronzes), and one behind cyclist Sir Jason Kenny who retired with seven golds and two silvers.
