Sir Chris Hoy has revealed that he’s broken his leg in the ‘worst crash’ he’s ever experienced amid his heartbreaking battle with prostate cancer.
The cycling legend and Olympic champion, 49, said that he suffered the major injury while out riding his mountain bike – something he’s continued doing despite undergoing chemotherapy for the terminal illness he was diagnosed with three years ago.
Hoy opened up about the incident in an interview with Sky Sports this week ahead of the upcoming World Darts Championships, which he insists he will still attend even after the injury.
‘I’ve smashed up my leg on the mountain bike,’ the sporting legend said. ‘That’s the worst thing that’s happened recently. You just don’t bounce like you do when you’re younger.
‘It was a big one but I’m doing better now. I’m still on crutches, hobbling about, but by the time I’m there for the darts final on January 3, hopefully I’ll be a bit more mobile.
‘Worse things happen. I’ve been riding bikes for 43 years and it’s the worst crash I’ve ever had. I’m pretty lucky that’s the worst one I’ve had in all those years of riding.
‘You can trip walking up steps to your front door and hurt yourself. The point is I’m not a massive risk taker, but I want to live my life and I want to make the most of it.
‘None of us are here forever so you want to make the most of the time you have and do the things you enjoy.
‘I’ve just had an unfortunate spill and it’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m doing alright now, I wasn’t doing so well in the immediate aftermath of it, but looking forward to Christmas.’
The Scotsman first revealed he was battling cancer in September 2023 after discovering a tumour when he went to the doctors over discomfort in his shoulder and ribs.
Having initially been diagnosed with primary prostate cancer, Hoy sadly received the news that it had spread to his bones and become terminal in October 2024.
However the sporting icon has stayed positive through a difficult couple of years and regularly made clear his intent to enjoy life even while undergoing chemotherapy.
In what is a promising update, Hoy also told the publication that his condition is now ‘stable’ thanks to successful treatment.
‘Once you’ve got past the diagnosis, which for me was over two years ago, now the first part of that is pretty grim and then you start the treatment,’ he said.
‘Then, if you’re lucky like me, you respond to the treatment and enter a period of kind of stability.
‘It’s not completely stable, there’s times where it comes back and then you have to change treatment, but the fortunate thing for me in my situation, there are a number of different treatments out there, as there is for any man with prostate cancer.
‘It’s putting faith in science and knowing that right today, there are countless people all around the world working on new medications, new treatments, and with the hope that one day it won’t be a terminal diagnosis, but I’m doing fine.’
The six-time Olympic gold medallist also offered an update on the health of his wife, Lady Sarra Hoy, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at the age of 44 in October 2023.
The heartbreaking revelation came just a couple of months after Hoy went public about his own health issues, with Lady Hoy learning of the condition when she visited the doctors over tingling in her tongue and face.
MS is an illness in which the immune system attacks the body and causes nerve damage to the brain and spinal cord.
During an appearance on The Sports Agents Podcast with BBC presenter Gabby Logan last week, Hoy said of his partner: ‘She’s doing fine. It was the final kick in the teeth when you thought it couldn’t get any worse. To get that news literally a month or two after my diagnosis, that was the lowest point really.
‘But she’s an incredible human being. We’re still pushing on and we’re still having fun. We’ve got the house decorated for Christmas. There are times when it’s tough but we’re doing really well.
‘There are times where you forget about it. It’s not like two years ago when you woke up and the first thing you thought about was cancer.’
Sir Chris and Lady Sarra share two children together – Callum, aged 11, and Chloe, eight.
