Six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy received an outpouring of support after revealing that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In an interview with The Sunday Times, the British athlete said that he has between two and four years to live after being told that primary cancer in his prostate has spread to his bones, leaving him with stage four cancer. Sir Chris had previously revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, but did not disclose the type of cancer. On Sunday, he posted on Instagram saying he was “feeling fit, strong and positive” while working in Copenhagen reporting on the World Track Cycling Championships.
Many well-known figures from sports and politics were quick to praise the inspirational athlete. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the “whole country” is behind Sir Chris, while Scottish First Minister John Swinney praised the Olympian’s “courage”. Fellow former Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish paid tribute to Sir Chris, calling him a “hero of a human being,” while Olympic athlete Dame Kelly Holmes sent her love to the cyclist and the British Cycling account left an emoji showing two hands making a heart symbol.
Sir Chris talked to the Sunday Times, saying:
> “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.”
Sir Chris, who was first inspired to take up cycling by the famous BMX scenes in the film E.T., won six Olympic, 11 World, and 43 World Cup titles by the time he retired in 2013. He won his first gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and went on to bag three more gold medals four years later in Beijing. He secured two further golds in London in 2012, becoming Britain’s second most successful Olympian after Sir Jason Kenny.
Prior to receiving his terminal diagnosis, Sir Chris’s wife Sarra underwent scans that revealed she had multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease. The couple has two children, Callum and Chloe. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised how the couple was facing their health diagnoses and embracing life:
> “Courage has defined Chris’s career and now characterises how Chris and Sarra both face their health diagnoses and embrace life
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