Sir Chris picks up his knighthood

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Sir Chris Hoy and mother Carol; video courtesy of British Ceremonial Arts

Triple Beijing Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy has collected his knighthood at Buckingham Palace.

Hoy took first in the team sprint, men's sprint and the Keirin in China in 2008, making him the first Briton to win three Olympic golds in 100 years.

Sir Chris's mother Carol, a former nurse specialising in sleep-related illnesses, was also getting an MBE for services to healthcare.

Teammate Bradley Wiggins and coach Dave Brailsford picked up CBEs.

Ellen Hunter, who won two golds at the Paralympics as a tandem cyclist pilot guiding blind Aileen McGlynn, also collected her MBE.

Sir Chris pulled off a major series of wins in Beijing

Sailor Ben Ainslie, who won his third gold medal at Beijing, was picking up a CBE, and rower Zac Purchase, a gold medallist in the double scull with Mark Hunter, was also collecting his MBE.

Sir Chris said: "Being knighted is the furthest thing on your mind when you compete at something like the Olympics.

"You train for your whole life and all of your sporting career to try and win gold medals and become the best at what you do."

He added: "If you're fortunate enough to do that an accolade like this is completely unexpected and such an amazing honour when it does come along."

The Edinburgh-born cyclist went on to praise his mother and said: "It's just such an amazing thing to happen to her because she's worked so hard all her life.

"There are so many people like my mum who normally don't get recognised."