My Favourite Olympic moment - Sir Paul Smith

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was race bicycles. I was a member of the Beeston Road Club in Nottingham, and wanted to be a racing cyclist. But I had a crash at 16 that put an end to my dreams. I’ve kept my enthusiasm for the sport, so the Beijing Games was particularly special for me. Cycling was the biggest medal winner for Britain in 2008, with 14 medals overall, eight gold, four silver and two bronze – a fantastic result. Chris Hoy was the hero, winning three golds in the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin. He was the first British Olympian to win three gold medals for 100 years and the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time. Bradley Wiggins’ gold in the Individual Pursuit and Victoria Pendelton’s silver in the Women’s Sprint were also memorable moments for me. We can take feats like those at the Olympics for granted and not realise how amazing they are. But sometimes we need to take a deep breath and say, ‘Wow, that’s given me goosebumps.’

Sir Paul Smith is a leading British
fashion designer