Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he is hopeful that new treatments for cancer could extend his life.
The six-time Olympic gold medallist has been told by doctors that he has between two and four years to live after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
He released a memoir last month called All That Matters which documents his life since the diagnosis.
Edinburgh-born Sir Chris, 48, said he is positive about living longer because of the potential for advancements in medical science.
He said technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to new developments in the treatment of cancer in the coming years.
The retired track cyclist has been diagnosed with primary cancer in his prostate, which has spread to his bones – meaning it is stage four.
He said: ‘In my situation it is not curable but it is treatable and manageable.
Sir Chris Hoy says his illness may not be curable but it is treatable and remains upbeat about the future
Sir Chris Hoy and his wife Lady Sarra with their son Callum and daughter Chloe
‘You think the longer that you can manage it, the greater chance is something will come along in the next five years that can extend another five years or potentially get rid of it.
‘I have got hope. You think about AI and all the bad things it’s going to do but AI from a medical perspective is so exciting and there are so many potential applications for it like virtual testing of medications and modelling of different types of cancers.
‘There’s so many things that can be done using AI for good.
‘There are new things coming all the time and you’ve got to hang in there.’
Speaking on his Sporting Misadventures podcast, Hoy added: ‘One of the medications I’m on just now was trialled in 2011 for men in exactly the same position as me, the same diagnosis and the same prognosis.
‘Two to four years is the average from the stats but 13 years ago this trial happened and one in four of those men is still on that same drug now. So they are here 13 years later.
‘The drug that I’m on now is 13 years old so there could be a new one just around the corner.
‘I’m not delusional. When you get a really serious diagnosis you have to accept it might be exactly what they say or you might have even less time than that.
‘But what if it all works out?’
After revealing that his illness is terminal, Hoy announced he wanted to organise an annual cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh for people living with stage 4.
He said he hopes cancer patients and their families and friends will set off from the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow’s east end and cycle near to where he was brought up in Edinburgh.
Just before Sir Chris’s tumour was discovered, his wife Sarra had undergone scans that would later show she had multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease.
Sir Chris, who was first inspired to take up cycling by the famous BMX scenes in the film E.T., had won six Olympic, 11 world and 43 World Cup titles by the time he retired.
The cyclist first won gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and went on to secure three more gold medals four years later at Beijing. He won two further golds at London 2012, before retiring from cycling in 2013.
Sir Chris’s comments came as it emerged he is on track to help get up to 500,000 people check for prostate cancer.
Prostate Cancer UK says the impact of his announcement in October has seen almost 300,000 men make a check online and more than three-quarters of them had one or more of the three main risk factors of disease, including family history.
Laura Kerby, chief executive, told BBC Breakfast: ‘Since Sir Chris has come out with his story, we have seen a significant impact. We have seen almost 300,000 men come through our online checker on the Prostate Cancer UK website.
‘Importantly, because I think this is what resonates with Sir Chris’s story, is that we have seen 40,000 men with family history – because it is about making men aware that yes there is a risk of prostate cancer but actually family history is a higher risk – and the fact we have had so many men coming forward in that area – I think is a fact that really resonates.
‘Chris is going to be the ambassador of the Paddy Power The Bigger 180 (campaign at the) World Darts championships which is going to try to get to another 180,000 men and raise money for the transform clinical trial.
‘The reason that is important, you (Sir Chris) will almost have half a million men at that stage that you have encouraged to come forward to take the risk checker and, as a result of that, that will have saved hundreds and thousands of lives.’