Sir Chris Hoy terminal cancer latest after being left distraught by discovery

The legendary Olympic cyclist was diagnosed with cancer in September 2023 and later revealed that doctors had given him between two and four years left to live

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Hoy was diagnosed with cancer in September 2023(Image: Manchester Evening News)

It’s been two years since Sir Chris Hoy got the news that would ultimately change his life forever, as he was told he had cancer.

The Olympic cycling legend visited a doctor after experiencing some pain in his shoulder and ribs, which he initially put down to overdoing it while working out in the gym. When the pain didn’t go away, he booked an appointment in September 2023 and underwent a scan, only to be stunned when it revealed a tumour.

In what he described as the “biggest shock of my life”, Hoy was knocked for six by the shock diagnosis, as he told the BBC: “I remember the feeling of just absolute horror and shock. I just basically walked back in a daze. I couldn’t believe the news and I was just trying to process it, I don’t remember walking. I just remember sort of halfway home thinking ‘where am I?’ And then I was thinking ‘how am I going to tell [my wife] Sarra? What am I going to say?'”

In a heartbreaking development, Hoy and his family would have their lives turned completely upside down weeks later after several further scans revealed primary cancer in his prostate, which had metastasised to his bones. Tumours were discovered in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and rib, with his condition terminal and doctors giving him “two to four” years left to live.

Aged just 47 at the time of diagnosis, the six-time Olympic gold medallist has since admitted in his autobiography that the news left him “completely numb” and “nauseous”, as he remembered feeling “green in the face” as he was told his cancer was terminal.

“I can’t form words or even thoughts to ask questions, but I am vaguely aware of Sarra doing that while I sit there,” he recalled. “The noise is distant, the words totally indiscernible.”

He added that he had been caught completely off-guard by the diagnosis due to being “still at the peak of fitness, eating well, never smoked and never done drugs”. While he was left reeling from the heartbreaking news, his wife Sarra was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around the same time, leaving Hoy feeling as though he was in a “living nightmare” as he prepared to break the news to his two young children, Chloe and Callum.

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Hoy’s wife Sarra was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis shortly after he was told he had cancer(Image: PA)

“That was the first thought in my head,” he told the BBC. “How on earth are we going to tell the kids? It’s just this absolute horror, it is a waking nightmare. We just tried to be positive and tried to say do you know what, this is what we’re doing and you can help because when I’m not feeling well, you can come and give me cuddles, you can be supportive, you can be happy, you can be kind to each other.”

However, what Hoy has done in the two years since his first diagnosis has been nothing short of remarkable. While he has been dealing with an unimaginable situation, the Team GB icon has dedicated time and energy to spreading awareness of prostate cancer and raising funds for cancer charities.

Since going public with his diagnosis, he has aided an astonishing rise in the numbers of men seeking advice around the disease, with the NHS diagnosing more men with prostate cancer at an earlier stage than ever before. Meanwhile, his fundraising cycling challenge Tour de 4 has raised more than double its £1 million fundraising target for cancer charities in the UK.

As for his own health, Hoy gave a brief update on his life with terminal cancer during an appearance on BBC Breakfast in early September, telling host Charlie Stayt: “I’m doing pretty well, thanks. Everything is stable at the moment, I had a bit of radiotherapy a few weeks ago. Feeling alright! Just getting on with it.”

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Hoy’s Tour de 4 charity challenge has raised over £2 million(Image: PA)

While he is still undergoing “constant treatment”, Hoy says his condition is no longer the first thing on his mind each morning. Earlier this year, he told Sky Sports News that he had entered “a bit of a stability stage” and is now “appreciating life more than ever”.

“I’m doing well,” he said in May. “It feels like I’ve entered a bit of a stability stage at the moment and I’m feeling good, exercising, riding a bike, busy. Most importantly cancer’s not the first thing I think about in the morning when I wake up and it’s not the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. I think we’ve got into a rhythm now where it’s part of our lives and we manage that and crack on.

“It feels like it’s been one of the busiest periods of my life, the last few months, just doing everything: fun stuff, family stuff, work, travel. I feel good. I’m on constant medications, constant treatment, but it’s not interfering too much with my life and the most important thing is it’s working, so I’m stable at the moment, everything’s good. Making hay while the sun shines.”

“I can’t believe the position I’m in now compared to 18 months ago,” Hoy added. “I never imagined I’d be able to get to this point where I’m actually living life. And not just living life, but actually appreciating it more than ever and able to enjoy the little things. It’s not just about doing bucket-list stuff and doing massive things, it’s about appreciating the daily, mundane fun of life.”

But despite Hoy’s admirable outlook on life with cancer, his journey has been far from painless, as he revealed during an appearance on Gabby Logan’s podcast The Mid Point that the spread of tumours had actually left him with a spinal fracture. The injury led doctors to warn him not to pick up his young daughter over fears he could make it worse, leaving him devastated.

“When I had the first diagnosis and scans, some of the secondary tumours in my spine had actually burrowed into the bone so badly it had fractured,” Hoy said. “So I had a fractured vertebrae.

“When they saw it on the scan they were like, ‘We’re going to have to be really careful here, you can’t do any lifting, you can’t pick up your kids, you can’t do anything. Being told not to be able to pick up your six-year-old daughter, that was like, right, this is really impacting my life

“I had some injections,” he added. “They basically drill into your vertebrae, squirt this cement material in and it sets and it fuses and it makes the vertebrae as good as new again. So I’m back to lifting weights again. The thought of not being able to pick up your child, the thought of that not being a possibility was horrendous. For now I’m doing OK.”