Six-time Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy has revealed he has “two to four years” to live, after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, with bone metastases.
The announcement comes after the 48-year-old Scot said in February that he felt “hopeful and positive” while undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer diagnosed last year.
However, the sprinter, who worked as a BBC observer at the Paris Games last summer, has now revealed that he has known for more than a year that his cancer is incurable. Despite his illness, Chris Hoy says he is still optimistic and appreciates life.
“Honestly, I’m pretty positive most of the time and I’m really happy,” Hoy said The Rising.
“This is more important than the Olympics. It’s more important than anything. It’s about appreciating life and finding joy. As unnatural as it seems, that’s nature. We’re born and we die all, and that’s part of the process,” he said.
“It’s not entirely about denial or self-deception. It’s about trying to recognize: after all, what do we have control over?”, he said. “I’m not saying those words alone. I learned to live in the moment and there are days of real joy and happiness.”
Hoy has written a memoir about his life over the past year, in which he describes how doctors came to terms with cancer after first finding a tumor in his shoulder.
The father-of-two also said he had an allergic reaction to the chemotherapy treatment, feeling “absolutely devastated at the end”.
In addition to his own treatment, Hoy suffered another blow when his wife, Sarra Kemp, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November.
“Fear and anxiety come from trying to predict the future. But the future is a concept abstract in our minds. None of us know what will happen. The only thing we know is that we have a limited time on the planet”, said the rider.
Hoy was at the forefront of the era of British dominance in track cycling, winning gold medals at the Athens, Beijing and London Olympics. He also won 11 world titles during an impressive career.
Until 2021, Hoy was the most successful British Olympian and Olympic cyclist of all time, before being overtaken by fellow Briton Jason Kenny, who won his seventh Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games.