Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he turned to one of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s mentors following his stage-four cancer diagnosis. The legendary Olympian received a terminal diagnosis in 2023 but has vowed to keep fighting for as long as possible.

Hoy was a pioneer for British track cycling, winning 11 world and six Olympic titles during his glittering career. Between 2012 and 2021, the Scot was the most successful British Olympian of all time, with his exploits as a cyclist having transcended the sport. But after his world was rocked following the cancer diagnosis, Hoy claims he took the decision to swim and not sink. 

Speaking in an interview with The Times, the sporting icon opened up about how he sought advice from a famous psychiatrist he worked with during his career and one who has previously aided snooker star O’Sullivan.

On his conversations with Steve Peters, Hoy stated: “Steve talked about how you’re grieving the life that you thought you had, and that grief can take 13 weeks — that is this weird number where you can’t speed it up, you can’t force it to happen quicker than that — but often 13 weeks is a time where you start to slowly start to come out of this. I guess it’s your brain becoming accustomed, an acceptance of what’s happened.

“I tried not to Google. I don’t Google anything about my diagnosis, because I just find it a terrifying thing to do, but I also didn’t want to turn my back on it, and it was too close to home for Sarra [his wife], 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.’”

Hoy’s was initially told he’s between two and four years left to live when he was first diagnosed with cancer. It’s claimed that Peters went away and discovered two men who were both diagnosed in their sixties and lived for 20 years later. Recalling the time he was told about this, Hoy said: “I’m not saying that I’m going to be that person but once you know something is possible, it’s a way of finding your own hope.”

A true illustration of Hoy’s champion, but more importantly, fighter mentality in a time of crisis.