2012 London Games: Britain’s Sir Chris Hoy claims sixth Olympic cycling gold

Sir Chris Hoy capped off his Olympic career with a stunning victory in men’s keirin event Tuesday night at the London Velodrome. The 36-year-old defending Olympic and four-time world champion claimed a sixth gold medal to become the most successful British athlete of all time.

Tuesday night, Edinburgh-born track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy gained the most momentous victory of his career. With a lap and a half to go, Hoy seemed to have slowed down as Germany's Maximilian Levy went past him. But somehow he cycled his way on the inside and took gold after making an incredible surge for the line.

Levy, the silver medalist at April’s World Championships, came in second again, while Teun Mulder of the Netherlands and Simon van Velthooven of New Zealand crossed the finish line together to claim third and a bronze medal each.

Sir Chris Hoy surpassed Sir Steve Redgrave's total of five gold medals and rounded off his Olympic career on a glorious high at the London Velodrome. The champion cyclist cried tears of joy as he stepped on to the podium to collect his sixth gold medal as Britain’s greatest ever Olympian.

According to BBC News, after his glorious win, Sir Chris Hoy said, "I'm in shock. You try to compose yourself but it's surreal. I wanted to win gold in front of my home crowd. I saw everyone stepping up to the plate and thankfully it worked out for me too.”

"The keirin is a lottery and you never take anything for granted in it. I can't describe the feelings I have at the moment. This is enough for me - this is the perfect end to my Olympic career,” the champion sprinter added. "I can't put into words what it means to me. It's one of the greatest feelings I have ever had.”

Having won gold in track cycling in the men's team sprint, Hoy's victory in the men’s keirin event was the perfect finale for Team GB as they finished the competition with seven gold medals, the same they got in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Sir Chris Hoy told the media that he is sure he will not participate in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, but may continue to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. "I'm 99.9% sure I won't be competing in Rio. How can you top this? [The 2014 Commonwealth Games in] Glasgow is another question, as that would be the dream ending for me," Hoy said.