Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy opened up on his ‘unimaginable’ year after being diagnosed with terminal cancer but said he is responding well to treatment.
Hoy, 48, was given between two to four years to live by doctors after being diagnosed with primary cancer in his prostate which then spread to his bones.
He revealed earlier this year that he was being treated for an unspecified type of cancer and was ‘optimistic, positive and surrounded by love’.
But, speaking to The Sunday Times in October, Hoy announced his cancer had become stage 4 and that he had ‘known this for over a year’.
Hoy, who won six Olympic cycling gold medals between 2004 and 2012, believes he is now in good shape and is thankful for the outpouring of support.
‘I’m doing well. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in over a year,’ he told Sky Sports News. ‘I’m physically not in any pain at all. Treatment has worked really well. Everything is stable. I couldn’t have responded better to the treatment available.
Sir Chris Hoy has opened up on his ‘unimaginable’ year after being diagnosed with terminal cancer (pictured: Hoy with his wife Sarra at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards)
Hoy, the winner of six Olympic gold medals, was given between two to four years to live
Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said he is in good spirits and responding well to treatment
‘In the current situation, the best case scenario.
‘I’m very grateful. It’s been an unimaginable year. 18 months ago, if you had told me this was coming up, you couldn’t have imagined it. That’s life, isn’t it? You get curveballs. It’s how you deal with it. You make a plan and you move forward.
‘I’m so lucky to have genuinely amazing people around me, from family, friends, medical support, the general public you have really propped us up and lifted our spirits. I feel very fortunate in that respect.’
Hoy retired in 2013 and has since acted as a pundit and commentator for the BBC.
However, the father-of-two received the ‘biggest shock’ of his life after tumours were discovered in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and rib.
He later released a brave public statement confirming his diagnosis.
‘Initially, it’s not easy,’ he added. ‘We tried to keep it private and keep it to ourselves in the first few weeks and months, just to get our heads around the situation.
‘Our hand was forced initially in that a journalist started snooping around, so we had to make an announcement that I’d been diagnosed with cancer.
Hoy (pictured in 2012) revealed earlier this year he was battling an unspecified type of cancer
He received the ‘biggest shock’ of his life after multiple tumours were discovered
Hoy (pictured with his dad David in 2008) is now determined to increase cancer awareness
‘I was going through treatment at that point, through chemotherapy, but that I was doing OK and would explain more in due course. That was probably the hardest part, explaining the full situation. It was a big step but we knew it was the right thing to do.
‘I think it’s almost not wanting speculation. You want to be sure that the facts are out there. The less you give, the more people are going to speculate and the more the media are going to pry and maybe come up with false information.
‘We thought, “let’s get on the front foot, let’s tell the story how it is.”
‘One of the biggest motivators personally was it means I can do a positive thing, which is setting up a charity event next year. Then you have a purpose.
‘For me now, this is my purpose.’
Hoy and his wife Sarra share two children, Callum and Chloe, who were nine and six respectively when they learned of their father’s illness.
Now devoted to an annual ‘Tour de 4’ charity fundraising bike ride for cancer patients, Hoy aims for ‘as many people as possible who have been affected by cancer’ to cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh every summer.
‘Stage 4’s not just, this is the end of your life,’ he said. ‘There’s more to be lived.’
