People approach Sir Chris Hoy in the street to offer their condolences. The six-time Olympic gold medalist, who was told he has between two and four years to live after a stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis spread to his bones, gently reminds them that everyone faces the same fate. "We only have a set amount of time, everybody. It's just that my deadline's been brought forward a little bit, and therefore I'm a bit more aware of it," he told the Sunday Times.
Hoy, 47, was diagnosed in September 2023, but the news only became public a year later. In October 2024, his condition was confirmed as terminal after the disease spread to his bones. The cycling legend discovered he had tumours in his shoulder, pelvis, spine and rib during a routine doctor's visit for a shoulder sprain. Just before his diagnosis, his wife, Lady Sarra Hoy, was told she has multiple sclerosis, an incurable and degenerative neurological condition.
“Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy, diagnosed with terminal cancer, says everyone has a deadline, his just came sooner.”
Despite his illness, Hoy has refused to slow down. He recently completed a coast-to-coast cycling challenge across Spain, spending about six and a half hours in the saddle each day for a week. He estimates his fitness level is only 20% lower than before his diagnosis — and thinks it would have been even higher if not for a severe leg fracture last November from a mountain biking crash in south Wales.
His determination to stay active contradicts the advice he received from some doctors. "A lot of the doctors I spoke to in the early days almost just rolled their eyes when I was saying: 'Can I do this, can I do that?'" Hoy said. "The notion was, stop doing these silly things and just get your head around the fact that you've got this terrible disease, take the pills we're telling you to take and just lie down and let it take over."
Hoy, one of Britain's most decorated Olympians with six golds and one silver, has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy alongside heavy cancer medication. Almost two years after his initial diagnosis, he continues to fight — and to cycle.
