Sir Chris Hoy was in the spotlight at the 2012 Olympics in London after leading out Team GB as the flag carrier at the opening ceremony.

Hoy was also out to take Sir Steve Redgrave’s Olympic record of five gold medals after cycling success at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

The Scot’s fifth gold medal came on August 2 as Great Britain’s men’s sprint team – which also included Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny – won in a new world record time of 42.6 seconds.

Great Britain’s Chris Hoy celebrates winning the men’s keirin final
Great Britain’s Chris Hoy celebrates winning the men’s keirin final (Andrew Milligan/PA)

“You can’t overstate what this means to us in front of a home crowd,” Hoy said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Hoy became Britain’s most decorated Olympian five days later by winning a sixth gold medal in the keirin event.

He retired in April 2013 and later embarked on a career in motorsport, competing at the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours race.

On the day Hoy equalled Redgrave’s record, American swimmer Michael Phelps also created Olympic history.

USA’s Michael Phelps celebrates after winning the men’s 200m individual medley final
USA’s Michael Phelps celebrates after winning the men’s 200m individual medley final (Tony Marshall/PA)

Phelps secured his 16th gold medal by winning the men’s 200m individual medley with a time of one minute 54.27 seconds.

The victory saw Phelps become the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics.

Phelps ended his Olympic career at Rio in 2016, where he took his Games gold medal haul to 23, and 28 overall.