Sir Chris Hoy was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year but has continued to inspire amid heart-breaking hurdles, including a broken back and his wife’s health
Sir Chris Hoy has been a symbol of bravery since his cancer diagnosis 18 months ago.
The six-time Olympic gold medallist, who competed in cycling at four separate Games, was diagnosed with cancer in September 2023 when doctors discovered a tumour in his shoulder. The 48-year-old shared the heart-breaking news a year later that scans revealed primary cancer in his prostate, which had spread to his bones.
Despite being given two to four years to live by doctors, the Scottish icon is not giving up without a fight. Hoy says he’s not physically in any pain and is determined to defy the prognosis after revealing that the treatment he’s receiving, which includes chemotherapy, is showing results.
Sir Chris has since appeared at high-profile events, presenting Luke Littler with the Sid Waddell Trophy at the World Darts Championship in January and delivering the match ball at the Six Nations game between Scotland and Ireland. Having already inspired thousands of men to check for prostate cancer, we now take a look at the latest updates on his condition and his wife’s heart-breaking health battle of her own.
Spinal fracture
Opening up about his condition this week on Gabby Logan’s podcast, The Mid Point, the Team GB hero revealed the moment the cancer began to “really impact” his life. He explained how the spread of tumours shockingly left him with a spinal fracture.
“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,” he revealed. “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.”
He described the emotional toll of being unable to pick up his child as “horrendous” but expressed immense gratitude for the medical procedure that made his spine “good as new”.
“I had some injections,” Hoy said. “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.”
When Logan asked about his outlook on life, Hoy said he has shifted his fitness ambitions and feels better than he has since receiving his diagnosis. He added: “I don’t think about cancer first thing in the morning, I don’t think about it last thing at night. I’m physically much better and I reset my targets each day.
“If I’m in the gym or on the bike, I don’t think about the weights I used to lift two years ago or how many power reps I used to do on the bike. I have a new target, post-diagnosis benchmarks. If I have a good day, I can say it’s a personal best, today’s the best day I’ve had in the last 18 months.”
Wife’s nightmare diagnosis
Just days after Hoy announced his battle with cancer, Lady Sarra, his wife whom he married in 2010, went for a routine MRI scan due to a tingling sensation on her face and tongue. Sarra had joked it was “a chance for her to have a lie down for an hour” and “as close to a spa day as she’d get”.
Hoy says she continued to support me “wholly and completely” after her scan – and he thought no more of it, as her symptoms appeared to have disappeared. But in an extract from his memoir, All That Matters: My Toughest Race Yet, published in The Sunday Times, the track cyclist said his “selfless” wife received confirmation just before Christmas in 2023 that she had multiple sclerosis (MS).
Hoy recounted how his wife, who was “always so strong”, struggled to find the words when she broke the news of her diagnosis to him that December. With “tear-filled eyes”, she asked him if he remembered the scan and said, “They think it might be multiple sclerosis”.
Hoy was bewildered at how she selflessly supported him amid her own crisis while keeping the tragic news to herself for over a month. Upon being told, the London 2012 Olympics legend “immediately broke down”, feeling “distraught both by the news and the fact she’d received it without me there”.
“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 admitted. “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.”
MS is a lifelong condition that impacts the brain and spinal cord. While it can’t be cured, medications and other treatments can help manage symptoms such as extreme fatigue, vision issues and difficulties with walking or balance.
Despite all the challenges Hoy has faced, he has embarked on a new project, Tour de 4, a cycling challenge designed to change perceptions of those living with stage 4 cancer and raise funds for UK cancer charities. The charity bike ride is set to take place on Sunday September 7, 2025.
