Leader: Chris Hoy's Olympic triumph to be celebrated

BRITAIN'S success in the Beijing Olympic Games was long in the preparation, yet for all that it is unexpected. We have grown used to sporting disappointment over the years and have often built up athletic heroes only to see them beaten in international competition. For a time, indeed, we took comfort in gallant losers, such as Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, as the expression of our amateur status in the Olympic stakes.

So the spectacular victories of Team GB, including the three gold medals secured by Scotland and Edinburgh's Chris Hoy, have come as a wonderful and very genuine surprise – a surprise that is all the better because these victories are not chance eve...