British cyclist Chris Hoy on Sunday beat the world 500-meter speed cycling record in Alto Irpavi, the world's highest competitive stadium in Bolivia, with a time of 24.758 seconds, according to news reaching in Lima.

Hoy beat the previous record of 25.85 set by Arnaud Tourant on the same track in 2001. Earlier on Sunday, Hoy, who has been Olympic Champion several times, failed to beat the 1km record, managing 58.88 seconds, just 0.005 behind Arnaud Tourant's 1km record, Alberto Ribera, President of the La Paz Cycling association told media there.

Cyclists choose extremely high locations to challenge world speed records because the air resistance is considerably less than at normal heights. Tourant set his record at Irpavi, which is 3,417 above sea level, on Oct. 10, 2001. On Saturday Hoy managed 59.103 over the 1km track. Later on Sunday he will attempt the world speed record for 200 meters.

Ribera told media that Hoy decided not to make a third attempt on the 1km record, but that he will try again after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The record-breaking attempt is supervised by an official from the International Cycling Union.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)