Six-gold Olympic champion cyclist Chris Hoy says he has terminal cancer

LONDON – Six-gold Olympic champion Chris Hoy revealed on Oct 19 that he has terminal cancer and has been told by doctors he has “two to four years” to live.

The 48-year-old former track racer

announced in February that he had been diagnosed with the disease

and was undergoing chemotherapy but insisted the treatment was “going really well”.

However, he has now told The Sunday Times of London that he knew at the time his illness was terminal.

When asking doctors how long he had left, he says he was told: “Two to four years”.

“We were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process,” he told the newspaper. “You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible. But most of the battle for me with cancer hasn’t been physical. For me, it has been in my head.”

He also said he had an allergic reaction to his chemotherapy treatment, feeling “completely devastated at the end of it”.

Despite his illness, Hoy says he remains positive.

“This is bigger than the Olympics,” he told the newspaper. “It’s bigger than anything. This is about appreciating life and finding joy.”

Hoy explained he had initially shrugged off pain in his shoulder as an injury caused by exertions in the gym. However, when he was referred for a scan, he was told by a doctor: “I’m really sorry. There’s a tumour in your shoulder.”

Another scan revealed primary cancer in his prostate, which spread to his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and ribs.

“And just like that,” added Hoy, who worked as a pundit with the BBC at the Paris Games in August. “I learn how I will die.”

In a double blow, Hoy also revealed that his wife Sarra has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“It’s the closest I’ve come to, like, you know, why me? Just, what? What’s going on here? It didn’t seem real,” he said. “It was such a huge blow, when you’re already reeling. You think nothing could possibly get worse. You literally feel like you’re at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you’ve got further to fall. It was brutal.”

Edinburgh-born Hoy took up track cycling as a teenager and won his first Olympic medal, a team sprint silver, at the 2000 Games in Sydney. Four years later, he became an Olympic champion by winning the 1km time trial in Athens. He increased his Olympic medal haul with three more golds at the 2008 Games in Beijing and another two at London 2012.

Hoy also won 11 world titles before retiring from competitive cycling in 2013.

“As unnatural as it feels, this is nature,” the father of two added in his interview. “A lot of deaths are sudden, leaving no chance to say goodbyes or make peace with everything. But I’ve been given enough time.”

Until 2021, Hoy was the most successful British Olympian and the most successful Olympic cyclist of all time, before being overtaken by Jason Kenny, who won his seventh Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Anna Morris stunned three-time champion and world record holder Chloe Dygert to win the individual pursuit title at the world track cycling championships on Oct 19.

American Dygert, who was aiming for a fourth triumph in the event, had improved her own world record to 3min 15.663sec in qualifying.

However, in the final, 29-year-old Morris was too strong and claimed her first individual title after two victories in the team pursuit in 2023 and in the 2024 championships.

“I’m in disbelief,” Morris told the BBC. “Chloe posted an incredible time in the qualifying round and I did a huge personal best, so I wasn’t sure how much more I had to give.

“I felt like I could potentially have gone a bit harder at the start, so I went out a little bit harder in the final, tried to keep it as controlled as I could, and at the end I could hear my teammates and coach screaming, so I knew I must be close.”

Also on Oct 19, Belgium’s Lindsay de Vylder took the men’s omnium title. Denmark triumphed in the women’s madison, while Russian cyclist Iana Burlakova took the 500m time-trial crown ahead of British duo Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant. AFP, REUTERS