Chris Hoy says 'life doesn't stop' eight months after revealing terminal cancer diagnosis

1 June 2025, 12:10

Former Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy and his family are "just getting on with life" as Hoy lives with a diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer.

“I want to show people that their preconceptions — and my own preconceptions — of stage 4 are not what they thought,” Hoy said in an interview with The Sunday Times.

He said he and his family "will be proving to ourselves and to others that life doesn’t stop.”

Hoy said his children are coping well with the publicity around his diagnosis.

“But, touch wood, it doesn’t feel as though they’ve been massively affected by it. They’ve always been a bit frustrated with people coming up, wanting a photograph of Daddy. Now they’re like, ‘Oh, is it because of the cancer?"

"I think they understand that cancer is part of our lives. It’s not something that really scares them, they don’t really talk about it much, it’s just there.”

Hoy said his family routine hasn't changed significantly since his diagnosis.

Read More: Rugby league star missing as wife issues desperate plea to find father of three

Read More: 'Breakthrough' three-drug therapy could slow advance of aggressive breast cancer

When his cancer was first diagnosed, “initially you feel you’re never going to tell your kids off again”, Hoy said.

“You want them to only remember you as the perfect father who always says yes if they want an ice cream, or yes if they get on the iPad, or whatever. And you realise that that phase is very short."

"It feels like the family routine is as it was before, which I think is remarkable, really. That will definitely change, obviously, but I think for now we’re just getting on with life, and it just feels like we’re in a nice spot."

Hoy publicly revealed in October 2024 that his stage 4 prostate cancer was terminal, after being initially diagnosed with cancer in September 2023. Hoy had a family history of the disease, but no symptoms.

Hoy's wife, Sarra, was diagnosed with MS around the same time as Hoy's cancer diagnosis.

Sarra told Hoy of her diagnosis in December 2023, after hiding it from him for a month or so while he coped with the news of his cancer.

Hoy told The Sunday Times: “She doesn’t talk about it a massive amount. I think she’s just determined to try and not allow it to get its feet under the table. It fluctuates, so she gets good days and bad days."

"When the days are difficult, she doesn’t ever admit to it, but clearly the thoughts are, ‘Is this the start of a decline? Is this how it’s going to be from now on?’ It’s just, it’s very difficult, and she’s so stoic and strong, and not willing to ask for sympathy."

Hoy said his two children, Callum, 10, and Chloe, 7, are still unaware of their mother's diagnosis.

The extent of their knowledge, Hoy said, is that "she’s got sore hands sometimes."

"If it wasn’t for my diagnosis, I think it would be getting a lot more attention, but she likes it that way. She doesn’t want the focus, she just wants to crack on.”

Hoy, a six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist, said the sport has become a way of “punching back” against cancer.

“You’re not just lying back there and taking drugs and hoping they work, you’re getting up each day, you’re seizing the day, and you’re doing something that at the end of it you feel a sense of achievement.”

Hoy and his wife will take part in Hoy’s Tour de 4 on September 7, a charity bike ride in Glasgow for 5,000 cyclists, many of whom are also living with stage 4 cancer.

Hoy is continuing to work as a sports broadcaster, as well as co-hosting a podcast and peforming on his speaking tour, An Evening With Chris Hoy. The paperback edition of his memoir, All That Matters, comes out in paperback on Thursday.

Hoy said there is a sense of urgency to maximise the money he makes from work while he still can.

"It’s a good point, and particularly with Sarra’s medical condition, you think, actually, make hay when the sun shines, and work hard when the opportunities are there and I’m physically able enough to do it. I’m lucky that I can still work, and that’s why I keep doing it.”

Hoy's oncologist told him that "they have cold, hard, black-and-white facts that show if you’re a regular exerciser then it could be up to 50 per cent longer between relapses and your cancer coming back versus patients who don’t exercise," Hoy said.

"If we had a drug that was that effective, it would be seen as a miracle drug to extend life.”

Hoy admitted that his positive mindset occasionally wavers.

"You can hide it from other people, but of course there’s moments where you have these darker thoughts, and the boat will start to shake and rock, and things will get stormy."

“And in those moments, that’s when you have to grab on, and bring yourself back, to the foundations of your mindset. You’ve got to be disciplined with your thoughts.”

Nonetheless, his diagnosis has unlocked "a different level of appreciation of life.”

Stuck on a delayed flight recently, surrounded by frustrated passengers, Hoy said: “And I was just thinking, you’re alive, this is great, this is life.”