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Four months on from three gold medals, the numbers keep adding up for Chris Hoy.

Two sportsman of the year awards, three enforced changes to his mobile phone number, eight new sponsorship deals, more than 30 public appearances, 12,000 hands shaken, at least as many autographs signed - .

"I've got a shorter signature now," he admits. "It's just a 'C' and an 'H' now with a squiggle in between. I reckon I can do it in less than a second."

It's strange to think that, this time a year ago, Hoy could stroll from his flat in Salford to the without being recognised by a single person.

Not any more. Now even popping into the supermarket for a pint of milk can take hours.

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Just when you thought you'd had all your Christmas presents, you wake up to find another beauty left under the tree.

Rip off the wrapping paper, and there it is - Australia's sporting supremacy, smashed into hundreds of tiny pieces.

For sports fans around the world, battered into weary submission by years of Australian dominance, the sight is as sweet as it is surprising.

A first home cricketing ? Allowing a touring team to successfully in the fourth innings, and then escape from 184-7 to 459 all out in the next match?

It isn't meant to be like this. Ordinarily, Australian conquers while Britons capitulate. They do the exercise, we do the eating. They do the success, we do the self-deprecation.

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Pickett's Lock in north-west London in the middle of winter feels a long, long way from Beijing's Bird's Nest in August.

While the sky is the same dull grey as it was in China, it's at least 25 degrees colder. A freezing wind blows empty plastic bags and crisp packets around the bus stop. The stench from the next door drifts across and stings the back of the throat.

This unglamorous spot, however, is where Christine Ohuruogu did the work that won her Olympic gold - the brutal outdoor track work, punishing weights sessions and endless indoor speed work.

"There's no magic formula for the quarter-mile," Ohuruogu says. "It's going to hurt, it's going to be long, but it's got to be done."

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