The 32-year-old cyclist from Edinburgh became the first Briton in 100 years to win three in one Olympic Games.

Added to the silver in 2000 and gold in 2004, his latest haul quite simply makes him the greatest Scottish sportsman EVER.

Hoy's incredible feat is the culmination of 25 years of dedication to the sport – literally thousands of hours of hard work on the track and in the gym.

And that is something that John Hughes' charges know only too well about.

The Falkirk boss works closely with Dave Clark, head of strength and conditioning at the Scottish Institute of Sport.

Clark and his team of professionals deliver cutting edge programmes in coaching, technical support, sports medicine, sports science, strength and conditioning, and career and lifestyle guidance to Scotland's elite athletes, including Hoy.

However, being based at the University of Stirling has allowed Falkirk FC to benefit from Clark's expertise as well.

"We are extremely lucky that Dave decided to take us on and work with Falkirk," Hughes told Heraldsport.

"The players have a strength and fitness programme that they follow closely and certain aspects are not unlike what Chris Hoy does – exercises such as squats and power lifts to develop the leg muscles for example.

"I have said for some time now that the days of starting training at 10 a.m. and finishing at noon are long gone. And working with someone like Dave Smith and using these world class programmes shows how far we have come and what stage we are at today.

"It is up to each member of the squad to adhere to them and it is something they must follow every day if they want to improve – like us,
I bet Chris Hoy doesn't get Christmas day off.

"He is mainly an individual athlete and, because we are a team, some players may think they can hide from their responsibilities, but that is definitely not the case – if it is too hard for them to stick to then they will soon be found out.

"Those are the standards that we set at Falkirk FC."