Courageous Sir Chris Hoy has revealed how he kept his terminal cancer diagnosis ‘secret for a year’ after his ‘world fell apart in a sentence’.
The Scottish cycling champ – who is 11-time world champion and six-time Olympic champion – was sadly handed the news he had around four years to live – though he kept the public shielded from this for a year before revealing it in a bombshell interview.
It comes as Sir Chris said in February he was being treated for cancer and it was ‘going well’ though he knew in reality it was just ‘management’.
In the wake of his brave confession, he also revealed that his partner of 14 years, Sarra had received a MS (multiple sclerosis) diagnosis, only weeks after he received his prognosis.
The Scot originally went to the doctor in September 2023 for a suspected shoulder strain, only to discover he had a tumour in his shoulder.
Edinburgh-born Hoy is an Olympic legend, having won six gold medals, as well as one silver
Hoy pictured posing for a photo while attending a cycling final at this year’s Olympic Games
Cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy, 47, who revealed he has cancer, pictured with wife Sarra
A father of two, Sir Chris told the Sunday Times: ‘I have terminal cancer but I still feel lucky’.
He added: ‘Once it’s said, you can’t go back. You can’t unsay it.’
Sir Chris explained the story began with ‘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.’
Even in February, Hoy had kept his initial diagnosis secret from fans for several months, revealing that he only shared that he had cancer because his ‘hand was forced’.
‘Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, which came as a huge shock, having had no symptoms up to that point,’ he said.
‘I’m currently receiving treatment including chemotherapy, which thankfully is going really well….For the sake of my young family, I had hoped to keep this information private but regrettably our hand has been forced.’
The Edinburgh-born Olympic legend – on the surface – appeared to be positive about the diagnosis.
Although he conceded that it had been ‘incredibly difficult’, he said that he ‘felt fine’ and was ‘continuing to work, ride my bike and live my life as normal’.
In April, two months later, that same positive outlook was still being radiated from Hoy who revealed that he was about to have his final round of chemotherapy and was focused on recovering.
Speaking on his Sporting Misadventures podcast, the 48-year-old said: ‘I have been going through chemo for the past 18 weeks and I have got the final round coming up, which I’m very excited about to get that behind me.
‘In some ways it’s been a long old slog but in other ways it has passed relatively quickly.
Despite his diagnosis, Hoy remains very active.
Earlier this month, he took part in a Peligoni’s wellness week event as part of PACE October that involved seven bike rides over five days in Greece.
Hoy – who won six Olympic gold medals for Team GB between 2004 and 2012 – insists that he still feels ‘lucky’.
The champ married wife Sarra in 2010 and they have two children together.
Both children were born prematurely. Son Callum was 11 weeks early in 2014, before daughter Chloe arrived four weeks ahead of schedule.
Against the odds, Callum and Chloe are now both perfectly healthy.
