Sir Chris Hoy: Six-time Olympic gold medallist reveals that he has terminal cancer and ‘two to four years’ to live

Sir Chris Hoy, one of Britain’s greatest cyclists and Olympians, has announced that his cancer is terminal.

Sir Chris revealed earlier this year he was being treated for an unspecified type of cancer and was “optimistic, positive and surrounded by love”.

However, he has announced in an interview with The Sunday Times that his cancer is terminal and that he had “known this for over a year”. Hoy revealed that he has “two to four years” to live.

After a tumour was initially found in his shoulder last autumn, a second scan found primary cancer in his prostate, which had spread to his bones. There were also tumours in his pelvis, hip, spine and rib, with a doctor telling him that it was stage four and incurable.

“As unnatural as it feels, this is nature,” Sir Chris told the Sunday Times. “You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.

“You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible.”

Edinburgh-born Hoy took up cycling at the age of 14 and won his first Olympic medal, a team sprint silver, at Sydney in 2000. Hoy followed that up by winning gold in the 1 km track time trial at Athens in 2004.

He added to his gold medal haul by winning three more at Beijing four years later and two at London 2012. Hoy also won 11 world titles and was knighted in the 2008 New Year Honours List after his success at the Beijing Olympics.

His rise to the top mirrored his nation’s emergence to the top of track cycling. The velodrome built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is named in his honour.

In February – as he was undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy – Sir Chris said he felt “forced” to reveal the cancer diagnosis publicly that he had been given in 2023.

At the time, Sir Chris said on his Instagram account: “For the sake of my young family, I had hoped to keep this information private but regrettably our hand has been forced.”

He wrote: “I have a bit of news. Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, which came as a huge shock, having had no symptoms up to that point.”

Sir Chris added at the time: “While I’m thankful for any support, I’d like to deal with this privately. My heart goes out to the many others who are also going through similar challenges right now.”

He said he would continue to ride his bike and was looking forward to getting “stuck in” to the year ahead, which included working as a pundit for the BBC covering the Paris 2024 Olympics in the summer.