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Olympic hero dodges Thai protesters
01.12.08
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Triple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy was among thousands of Britons stranded in Thailand, it has emerged.
Hoy was on holiday in the country as anti-government protesters took over Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport.
But the cyclist managed to get a flight out from Phuket, thanks to his long-standing links with global parcel delivery company DHL, The Scotsman reported.
Hoy's agent Ricky Cowan said the 32-year-old Olympian and his girlfriend had been able to fly out of Thailand "avoiding the Bangkok airport altogether".
He told the paper: "They had a problem, but the guy from DHL got them on to a flight out of Phuket. They're in Singapore now."
The cyclist's father David Hoy said his son had managed to secure flights to Frankfurt, then Majorca, where he is due to film a commercial for one of his new sponsors.
Writing on his blog on Hoy's website, he said: "We started to look for options which included two-day train journeys or a 1,200-mile drive, neither of which filled Chris with joy. All local flights are booked for over a week."
He added: "The up stepped our good friend Guy Elliot, CEO for DHL Logistics. Guy put us in touch with local contacts and, within three hours, Oscar De Bok and his team in Singapore had conjured up a seat on Tiger Airways out of Thailand and into Singapore. With a bit more magic, we have managed to get flights to Frankfurt and, from there, to Majorca."
Hoy is due to return to Scotland on Tuesday morning.
The Foreign Office said efforts were being "stepped up" to repatriate British tourists left stranded in Thailand by six-days of anti-government demonstrations.
