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The first symptoms were unusual. The 11-time world champion has terminal cancer

Maksym InshakovSport
The titled athlete gave a frank interview

Six-time Olympic champion and 11-time world cycling champion Chris Goy has announced that he has terminal cancer. According to doctors, the 48-year-old Edinburgh native has two to four years to live.

Goy has known about his diagnosis for a year, but only now he has announced that his disease is incurable.

Severe allergic reaction to chemotherapy

The second most decorated British Olympian (by number of gold medals) had a bad experience with chemotherapy that failed to cure him.

He described the procedure as "feeling like your head is in a vice" during all six treatments over 18 weeks, adding that it was the most painful experience of his life. "And I have a very high pain threshold," he said.

He also said that during the second chemotherapy session he had a severe allergic reaction, which made the procedure last four hours instead of two.

At the end of the treatment, he was "completely broken".

A tumor was found in his shoulder

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the father of two children, now 10 and 7 years old, said that he first went to the doctor in September last year.

The first symptoms were unusual. He thought it was just a sprained shoulder because he was "too old to lift weights".

However, he was diagnosed with a tumor in his shoulder, and further scans revealed that the main focus of the cancer was in his prostate and had spread to his bones. He had tumors in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine, and rib.

Goy, in his memoirs, which he wrote over the past year, said: "[You hear] one sentence spoken to you by a person you are seeing for the first time in your life. And in that one sentence, in those few words, your world collapses."

Wife is also sick

Goy also said that his wife Sarah also has health problems. She has a very active and aggressive form of multiple sclerosis, which was discovered after a scan last November.

She went to the doctor after she started feeling a strange tingling sensation on her face and tongue.

Goy said the hardest part was telling his children Callum and Chloe, but he was able to find the positive in it and gain inner harmony.

"I don't try to pretend that every day is wonderful. But I have moments of real joy... I'm back to myself again," he said.

The diagnosis came as a huge shock

Goy, who worked as a pundit for the BBC during the Paris Olympics, was an incredibly dominant figure in sprint cycling in his day. By the time his career ended in 2013, he had won six Olympic gold medals, 11 world titles, and 34 World Cup titles.

He is the third most medal-winning British Olympian in history, with six gold and one silver medal.

Sir Chris said the diagnosis came as a very unpleasant surprise.

"I have some news. Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, which came as a huge shock to me as I had no symptoms before."

Sir Chris expressed his "sincere gratitude" to the medical staff for their "amazing help and care".

The Scotsman added: "While I am grateful for any support, I would prefer to deal with this in private. My heart goes out to the many others who are currently facing similar difficulties. I am optimistic, positive and surrounded by love, for which I am very grateful. As you can imagine, the last few months have been incredibly difficult. However, I feel fine."

Wes Streeting, the health secretary who was treated for kidney cancer in 2021, said on Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: "He is such an inspirational person and that is particularly evident in the way he spoke today about his terminal diagnosis."

"I'm just amazed at the way he's dealing with it because I'm not sure I could have reacted the same way," he added.

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