Olympic hero's memoirs spark bidding war
Alison Flood writing in guardian.co.uk, Thursday September 04 2008

Success on the cycling track may not be the obvious route to literary stardom, but three gold medals mean that Olympic champion Chris Hoy is currently the subject of a lively bidding war among publishers. Offers for his memoirs of around £100,000 are understood to be on the table from four different publishers.

Photo - Golden boy Chris Hoy. Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

Hoy's autobiography is tentatively scheduled for next autumn. His agent Ricky Cowan confirmed that discussions with publishers about the book were ongoing, but would not comment further. Weidenfeld & Nicolson publisher Alan Samson, who is bidding for the memoir, said: "The USP of the book is that he is genuinely heroic – we may be seeing a sea change away from books about overcoming obstacles to books about genuine heroes of our times." HarperCollins sports publisher Tom Whiting, who has also made an offer, added: "We are all seeing him as the true Olympian after Beijing … He's got a story to tell and he's a great role model for kids."

Books from three-time sailing gold medallist Ben Ainslie and cyclist Victoria Pendleton are also being offered to publishers. And an "inspirational memoir" from US swimming superstar Michael Phelps, Built to Succeed, was sold in an American auction to Free Press for a reported $1.6m.

Read the full story at Guardian online.