Six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy was first diagnosed with cancer in September 2023 and was told last year that the disease was terminal but is continuing to fight
Sir Chris Hoy has opened up about his ongoing battle with terminal cancer, revealing that, despite initial despair, he has “been able to improve” since the diagnosis that stripped him of “all hope away”.
The six-time Olympic cycling champion was diagnosed with cancer in September 2023 and shared the heartbreaking news last October that his condition was terminal. A scan revealed primary cancer in his prostate which had spread to his bones, affecting his shoulder, pelvis, ribs, and spine. Doctors estimated that the Team GB hero had “two to four years” left.
In a new interview with the Times, Hoy confessed that coping with a stage four diagnosis is “hard to describe”, knowing that he would never be able to overcome the cancer.. Yet, he has found a way to throw himself into new challenges and find enjoyment in life once more.
“When you get given a stage four diagnosis, it’s hard to describe how it hits you and how much of a shock it is,” he expressed. “It takes away all the hope, because if you’ve got stage one, two or three there’s always hope that actually you can beat this.
“I thought: ‘I’d like to do something that reflects how I’m feeling right now, that, actually, life goes on.’ Actually, a lot of people are living with stage four.”
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After gruelling chemotherapy, the Olympic hero initially struggled with losing physicality and fitness, realising that he was not at the level he used to be while cycling in the hills of Greece last May.
Nonetheless, returning to those hills in October, Hoy found a positive turnaround, saying: “It’s nice that you can see progress. You assume that everything is heading one way, everything is getting worse, everything is going downhill, and it’s not.”
Indeed, he observed personal gains since his treatment, remarking: “I’ve been able to get fitter in the last 18 months; post-chemo I’ve been able to improve.”
The discovery that offered Chris Hoy hope
In pursuing recovery and peace of mind, Hoy refrained from diving into the depths of online research about his diagnosis, which he found “terrifying”. However, he enlisted the help of psychiatrist Steve Peters to find out information – which has given him some more hope for the future.
“I tried not to Google,” he admitted. “I don’t Google anything about my diagnosis, because I just find it a terrifying thing to do, but I also didn’t want to turn my back on it, and it was too close to home for Sarra.
“So I would ask Steve questions and say: ‘Look, can you go and find out about this? I don’t want to find out all the other things that are around it, I want to know who’s lived the longest with stage four prostate cancer.'”
Peters managed to track down two individuals who had received a stage four cancer diagnosis in their sixties, yet were still alive over two decades later. Hoy acknowledged: “I’m not saying that I’m going to be that person, but once you know something is possible, it’s a way of finding your own hope.”
When asked about his current outlook on life, Hoy expressed his desire not to dwell on his diagnosis. However, he assured that he is genuinely doing well.
“Cancer has taught me to try to not worry about the future,” he said. “When you feel fear or stress, it’s all about trying to predict the future, and you may be wasting time worrying about the wrong thing entirely and it’s only going to spoil your life at the moment.”