Top News

Sir Chris Hoy has shared that a visit to the doctor about shoulder pain resulted in his cancer diagnosis. The cycling legend was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2023 and given two to four years left to live.

The 50-year-old is a six-time Olympic gold medallist and secured 11 World Championship titles throughout his illustrious career. In 2024, Hoy revealed that his condition was terminal. Despite his devastating news, Hoy has since spearheaded efforts to raise awareness about the disease. He established The Tour de 4 charity event last year and has incredibly raised over £3.1 million to date. The sporting icon has provided updates about his health battle but emphasised the importance of educating the public about the disease when reflecting on his own diagnosis. Hoy had no symptoms of the illness when he consulted a doctor about a shoulder problem.

"Yeah, the cancer diagnosis changed my world entirely, and it was completely out of the blue and there was no warning, there were no symptoms or signs," Hoy told Track Radio, which launches on May 4. "And you know, the first thing I knew, I had a pain in my shoulder, the cancer had spread to my bones.

"So it was stage four, which means it's incurable. And so in the kind of aftermath of that diagnosis and the shock of it all, and the grief of it all, you can't imagine there's ever going to be anything positive coming from that situation.

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

"But in time, I kind of got my head around it, and with obviously the help of my wife, Sarah, and family and friends. And then you realise actually, I'm in a unique position, or a fairly unique position, to be able to have this public platform that I can actually make change and I can talk about it, people can learn about it."

Hoy drew attention to the online prostate cancer risk checker, operated by Prostate Cancer UK, which evaluates an individual's likelihood of being diagnosed with the disease by answering just three short questions. The degree of risk can be determined by several factors, including family history, age and ethnicity.

The cycling legend urges people to seek testing through their GP, as the condition can be successfully treated if caught early. However, he confessed to previously being unaware of some of the risks, despite having a family history of the disease.

Hoy had believed prostate cancer predominantly affected older men and had not considered himself at risk at the time of his diagnosis. Despite discovering his condition was incurable, the former Olympic champion has devoted himself to fundraising and raising awareness of prostate cancer in an effort to save lives.

"And it's not just a disease, you know, for much, much older men, I was 47 when I was diagnosed," Hoy continued. "And I always thought, you know, it's part of my family history, my grandpa had it, my dad had it. And yet I was still ignorant of the fact that you could get it when you're in your 40s.

"So yeah, I guess I'm lucky I've found this, I guess this purpose in my life now, where you can have a net gain, you know, hundreds, thousands of men through social media have been in touch to say that they have gone for a test off the back of my news.

"Many men, you know, have just said, 'It's great, I've had the test, and it's given me peace of mind.' But a lot of men have found out they've got cancer, and most of them early enough to do something about it. So you're saving lives by talking about it, and also raising money."

To listen to the full interview with Sir Chris Hoy tune into Track Radio which will initially broadcast weekdays from 7am to 7pm, with plans to expand in the near future.

Track Radio has announced a star-studded lineup of presenters, including Vassos Alexander, Charlotte Daly, and Mark Pougatch.