You’d be hard-pressed to find an athlete who radiated invincibility quite like Sir Chris Hoy. With his incredible physical strength and a stunning collection of six Olympic golds, he seemed almost superhuman. But beneath that impressive exterior, Chris Hoy has been hiding a heartbreaking secret for the past year: he has terminal cancer. When he shared the news that he has been given just two to four years to live, it sent shockwaves through not only the sports community but also ordinary folks who have come to admire him as a genuinely decent and humble person.

Last September, Chris thought he had overdone it at the gym, but a doctor’s visit revealed Stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, pelvis, hip, spine, shoulder, and ribs. As if that weren’t enough, just before Christmas, his wife, Sarra, learned she has a “very active and aggressive type of multiple sclerosis,” which is degenerative and incurable.

After feeling a tingling sensation in her face and tongue, doctors delivered the life-altering news. While their children know about Chris’s cancer, Chris and Sarra have chosen to keep Sarra’s MS diagnosis a secret from them for now. Instead of opting for more potentially effective but riskier treatments, they’ve decided to pursue low-risk options for her condition. At first, Chris thought about keeping his cancer diagnosis private, but when the news leaked, he felt he had no choice.

After Chris’s retirement in 2013, it was his children who continually motivated Sir Chris Hoy to move forward. Married to Sarra since 2010, Hoy is the proud father of two children, both of whom were born prematurely. Their son, Callum, arrived in 2014 at just 29 weeks, giving Chris and Sarra a unique perspective on the challenges faced by parents of premature babies and inspiring them to raise awareness about neonatal care.

As Chris puts it, “As long as your family and kids are healthy and happy, everything else fits in around it. You used to spend time worrying how fast you could ride a bike around a track. That seems really trivial now. Winning gold medals was the most important thing in my life – and now it’s not.” Once the news broke, social media was flooded with support for Chris, one of our greatest Olympians.

A silver lining in Chris Hoy’s journey with messages of positivity 

Fellow Olympic cyclist Sir Mark Cavendish called him a “hero of a human being,” while Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson said his “legacy was second to none.” One of the toughest moments for Chris and Sarra, as any parent can relate to, was sitting their two children, Callum and Chloe, down to explain the cancer diagnosis. During dinner one night, Callum asked, “Are you going to die?” Chris reassured him that, thanks to chemotherapy, he hoped “to be here for many, many years.”

Throughout this situation or struggle, he has never displayed any self-pity. He achieved a milestone in Beijing in 2008 when he became the first British male Olympian in a hundred years to secure three gold medals at a single Games event. Chris concluded his career at the London Olympics in 2012 by adding two gold medals to his collection. Furthermore, a stadium in Glasgow was dedicated in his name to commemorate his achievements during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Reflecting on his situation, Chris shared, “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature. We’re all born, and we will all die, and this is just part of the process.” He emphasized the importance of appreciating life and finding joy, reminding himself, “Aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible? This is bigger than the Olympics. It’s bigger than anything.” As Chris faces these profound challenges, his high spirit is an inspiration to all, and we hope for a better recovery for him and his family.