In the immediate aftermath of his terminal cancer diagnosis, Sir Chris Hoy could not listen to music. It was too reflective; too sad, or too upbeat; it evoked too many memories.
But the six-time Olympic cycling champion has earned universal admiration for his phlegmatic response to news that he may have less than four years to live, and his latest health bulletin will only deepen respect for the 49-year-old.
Far from succumbing to self-pity, Hoy has embraced a line from the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca: ‘He who worries before it is necessary suffers more than is necessary.’
Those words appear to have become something of a personal mantra for the Scot, whose focus is steadfastly on what he can do in the here and now, rather than any sense of despondency over what once was.
His capabilities continue to outweigh the norm, with Hoy still able to squat 160 kilos in the gym – about the same weight as a donkey – and hit a powerful 1,600 watts on the bike.
Those numbers represent about 80 per cent of what he could accomplish before undergoing chemotherapy in the aftermath of a stage four cancer diagnosis in September 2023.
Yet they speak of a man whose determination remains undimmed despite undertaking treatment for secondary bone tumours on his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and rib after scans revealed prostate cancer had spread.
Last May, two months after undergoing chemotherapy, a ride through Greece with amateur cyclists forced Hoy to confront unfamiliar limitations.
Sir Chris Hoy is seen at a Zwift event in Majorca last week. The six-time Olympic champion, who was given a terminal cancer diagnosis last year, has revealed his fitness is improving
Hoy, seen here at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where he won three gold medals, revealed his cancer diagnosis in February 2024. He later confirmed that the diagnosis was terminal
Hoy with his wife Sarra at the 2012 Olympics in London, where he became the most successful British Olympian of all time. Sarra has since been diagnosed with incurable multiple sclerosis
‘I wasn’t able to ride and talk going up the hill, and I found it difficult, and that was the point where I really understood: I’ve got to reset here and not compare myself to where I used to be,’ Hoy told the Times.
Five months later, Hoy returned to Greece and was heartened to find he could handle the same terrain more comfortably.
‘It’s nice that you can see progress,’ he said. ‘You assume that everything is heading one way, everything is getting worse, everything is going downhill, and it’s not.
‘I’ve been able to get fitter in the last 18 months; post-chemo I’ve been able to improve.’
Hoy has also drawn hope from learning that an American and a Canadian diagnosed with the same condition in their 60s remain alive more than two decades on.
‘I’m not saying that I’m going to be that person,’ he said. ‘But once you know something is possible, it’s a way of finding your own hope.’
Three months after Hoy’s diagnosis, his wife Sarra told him she was suffering from a ‘very active and aggressive type of multiple sclerosis’ that was both degenerative and incurable.
In an emotional TV appearance last December, Hoy revealed how he was reduced to tears while recording a heartfelt message to his children for the audio version of his memoir
Sarra and Sir Chris are seen during celebrations for Commonwealth day at Westminster Abbey last month. The couple have remained steadfast in their support for each other
Sarra and Sir Chris Hoy are seen with their son Callum and daughter Chloe. The children were respectively aged six and nine when Hoy was diagnosed with cancer in September 2023
One of the most difficult moments for the couple was telling their two children Callum and Chloe, then aged nine and six, about their father’s cancer diagnosis.
Anxious not to overburden the children, it was only later that they told them of Sarra’s condition – which she did not even disclose to Hoy at first as he began cancer treatment.
In his autobiography, entitled All That Matters: My Toughest Race Yet, Hoy wrote of his devastation that his wife had been silently grappling with her own health crisis in order to protect him.
Hoy is seen with fellow cancer patient King Charles III at Buckingham Palace last month at an event marking the start of the countdown towards the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games
Hoy is seen with an early cycling accolade. Now aged 49 and recovering from chemotherapy, he can still squat a formidable 160 kilos and hit a powerful 1,600 watts on the bike
Sir Mark Cavendish, left, is seen with Hoy at a Zwift event in Majorca last month. Hoy said: ‘I’m so pleased I got round OK even though my fitness isn’t quite what it was a couple of years ago’
Hoy with Sarra in the Scotland dressing room at Murrayfield in February. He later received an emotional ovation as he delivered the match ball before the Six Nations clash with Ireland
Steve Peters, the leading sports psychiatrist with whom Hoy first started working before the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has also been an invaluable source of support.
It was Peters who, tasked by Hoy with doing the research neither he nor his wife could face, uncovered the stories of the two men who outlived a similar prognosis.
‘I don’t Google anything about my diagnosis, because I just find it a terrifying thing to do,’ said Hoy.
‘But I also didn’t want to turn my back on it, and it was too close to home for Sarra, so I would ask Steve questions and say: “Look, can you go and find out about this? I don’t want to find out all the other things that are around it, I want to know who’s lived the longest with stage four prostate cancer.”‘
The answer has instilled in Hoy a sense of optimism that all inspired by his courage and determination will share.
