BRITAIN’S track cyclists filled a saddle bag of medals to bring home yesterday.

Chris Hoy picked up a second gold to the one he won last week in the team sprint and also collected the accolade of Scotland’s greatest Olympian.

Bradley Wiggins chased down another gold for Team GB in the individual pursuit, matching the medal he won in Athens four years ago. A silver and two bronze medals added to yesterday’s tally.

Another cycling gold is guaranteed today after two Britons - Wendy Houven-aghel and Rebecca Romero - qualified yesterday as the finalists in the women’s 3,000m individual pursuit.

Whether she wins gold or silver, Romero will pedal into Olympic history as the only British woman to win a medal in two different sports. She collected silver in rowing at Athens in 2004 in the women’s quadruple sculls.

Britain’s cyclists came to Beijing as the team to beat after winning nine golds in 18 events at the track world championships in Manchester in March.

“I think there is a bit of a shock here at how strong we are,” said Romero.

“Everybody kept asking, ‘Can they move up another gear, have they peaked too soon?’ Now we have shown that we could move on and that is a bit of a shock to the other teams.”

Hoy is already in the record books. By adding two golds to his 1km time trial title from Athens, he has outdone every other Scottish athlete.

“I didn’t really realise that, that’s fantastic,” he said.

“You don’t think about these things, you know. When you get to the start line, you’re not thinking about the podium, medals, nothing - it’s just about the process. It’s about the event.”

Hoy also put himself into an elite group of nine Britons who have won three or more Olympic golds. Ben Ainslie, the sailor, is a likely candidate to join the group today after he was becalmed while he was in gold position in the Finn dinghy class yesterday and racing had to be abandoned.

There was no such slow-down in the velodrome where time after time the Union Jack adorned the podium. Both Hoy, 32, and Wiggins, 28, will compete for gold again this week, Hoy in the individual sprint and Wiggins in the Madison events for pairs.

“We have become the dominant force,” Wiggins said. He predicted more success in the 2012 Games: “I’ll be 31 in London, coming to my prime.”

Shane Sutton, Britain’s cycling coach, said the track team drew on the success of British women in the Olympic road cycling events. Nicole Cooke took gold in a gruelling road race last Sunday while Emma Pooley won silver in the time trial.

“We’re kind of on a roll right now,” Sutton said. “We were hoping for such a sweep.”

Hoy’s family held up a banner saying “Chris Hoy - the real McCoy” as he won the keirin, a race in which cyclists follow an accelerating motorcycle before sprinting to the finish line. He is the first Scotsman to hold three Olympic golds after beating fellow Scot, Ross Edgar, into the silver slot.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, was quick to seize on their success. “This was the Braveheart final and Chris and Ross did Scotland proud,” he said.

Hoy joins the greats

Hoy joins eight Britons who won three or more golds:
(5) Steve Redgrave - rowing 1984-2000
(4) Paulo Radmilovic - waterpolo and swimming 1908-20; Matthew Pinsent - rowing 1992-2004
(3) Henry Taylor - swimming 1908; Jack Beresford - rowing 1924-36; CharlesSmith and George Wilkinson - water polo 1908-20