Sir Chris Hoy, a six-time Olympic gold medalist, heartbreakingly shared that he has terminal cancer.
The 48-year-old retired cyclist — the second most decorated British Olympian — shared his harrowing health update during an interview with the Sunday Times published Saturday night.
Hoy first revealed his cancer battle during an emotional Instagram post in February, but only now shared that his diagnosis is life-ending.
“I have a bit of news. Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, which came as a huge shock, having no symptoms up to that point,” he said in the Feb. 16 post.
Hoy, who remained “optimistic and positive” had wanted to keep his health battle private but his “hand had been forced,” when the personal health news he had shared with a dozen people was leaked, he said.
He looked forward to an “exciting year ahead, not least with the Paris Olympics in July,” he concluded.
Hoy’s health concerns first came about in September 2023 when he believed he strained his shoulder while lifting weights.
“I’m just getting a bit old for lifting heavy weights,” he said to the Times.
After getting a scan, he went to the follow-up alone believing he was going to be told to lay off on any upper body workouts, but was instead told the life-changing news by a stranger.
“One sentence that some person you’ve never met before has just told you. And in the space of one sentence, just a collection of words, your whole world has fallen apart,” Hoy wrote in his memoir, according to the outlet.
“I’m really sorry,” he wrote that his doctor told him.“There’s a tumor in your shoulder.”
A second scan revealed Hoy had primary cancer in his prostate that had metastasized to his bones, with tumors developing in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and ribs.
The doctor revealed it was stage 4 and it was incurable.
“And just like that, I learn how I will die,” Hoy added in the memoir.
The gut-wrenching news, caused Hoy to “turn green” and become claustrophobic as he lowered himself to the floor and struggled to breathe in the doctor’s office.
“How long do I have?” Hoy asked and was told two to four years with treatment being referred to as “management.”
The legendary cyclist made his Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Games, winning the silver medal in the Team Sprint with Great Britain.
He won his first gold in the 1,000-meter Time Trials in Athens in 2004, before winning three more golds in Keirin, Sprint and Team Sprint at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Hoy’s immaculate Olympic career ended at the 2012 London Games by defending his titles in Keirin and Team Sprint.
The Scotland-born cyclist was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire “for services to cycling” in 2005.
Despite his cancer battle, Hoy returned to the Olympic velodrome in July as part of a broadcasting for the Paris Games.
Having kept the severity of his diagnosis quiet until Saturday, Hoy felt daunted by how he would share the news.
“Because once it’s said, you can’t go back. You can’t unsay it,” he told the outlet.
He teased the upcoming interview while working for BBC in Denmark over the weekend.
“You may see in the news this weekend some articles about my health, so I just wanted to reassure you all that I’m feeling fit, strong and positive, and overwhelmed by all the love and support shown to my family and me. Onwards!” he wrote on Instagram.
Before making it public, Hoy was tasked with telling his son, 9, and daughter, 6, over dinner.
The athlete began chemotherapy in November, and for his son’s sake, endured the pain of a cold cap to keep from losing his hair.
Hoy’s diagnosis wasn’t the only difficult health news his family received last year, as his wife learned she had a “very active and aggressive” case of multiple sclerosis that needed urgent treatment weeks before his cancer diagnosis.
The Olympian says it felt like he hit “rock bottom.”
“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. 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.”
Hoy had not shared his wife’s health battle with their kids, and to protect them from the news released during his interview booked a “two-week, half-term family holiday.”
“Hopefully the dust will have settled” by the time they return from the vacation, he said.
