Sir Chris Hoy issues new heath update and makes plea after Jeremy Clarkson diagnosis
Sir Chris Hoy has said the responsibility shouldn’t be solely on celebrity patients like him or Jeremy Clarkson to raise cancer awareness. The cycling legend has also offered the latest update regarding his own condition as he continues to live with Stage 4 prostate cancer.
Six-time Olympic gold medal-winner Hoy was diagnosed with the disease in September 2023 and revealed it was terminal the following year. He has since become a major advocate in encouraging men to get screened, but he wants to see Britain adopt a more proactive stance in identifying cases.
The 50-year-old would like to see men take more responsibility and is campaigning for better education on the subject. He also offered an update on what life looks like for him almost three years on from his original diagnosis and said he’s “doing really well” at present.
“Right now life just goes on,” he told BBC Scotland. “You could spend your time sitting worrying about the future but that doesn’t help you in any shape or form.”
The Team GB icon has maintained an incredibly brave outlook throughout his illness and continues to live life with as much normality as possible. However, his words hint at some frustration on the current system available to men in Britain.
“I turned 50 recently and I got a letter through the post with a bowel screening test,” he added. “I understand the PSA test (a blood test that can aid in detecting prostate cancer) isn’t perfect.
“You can get results, not false positives, but it can be that men can be treated when they maybe didn’t need to be treated. But actually, I think that’s not a diagnosis issue, that’s a treatment issue. That’s a decision for the doctors to make. I think knowing your situation is really important.”
It emerged in June that Clarkson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer himself while filming the fifth season of ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ last year. He has since confirmed he’s in remission but Hoy used him as another example of a public figure who shouldn’t have to be the reason people get checked.
“It shouldn’t just be down to high-profile individuals like Jeremy Clarkson or myself or any number of men who’ve been in a similar situation,” Hoy added. “There should be a more systematic and proactive approach to let men know about their own risk.”
Hoy also said 10,000 men in the United Kingdom every year discover their prostate cancer diagnosis too late. Statistics show the number of men living with prostate cancer has risen by 100,000 since 2020 and around 12,000 men in the UK die from the disease every year.
As part of his awareness-raising efforts, Hoy is set to stage a ‘Tour de 4’ charity cycle on Sunday, September 6. The ride will start and finish at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome in Glasgow, having already raised more than £3million for UK cancer charities to date.
