Sir Chris Hoy's humility and charisma praised by track legend Colin Jackson

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Athletics legend Colin Jackson has paid tribute to the courage of Sir Chris Hoy in the face of his friend’s terminal cancer bombshell.

The Welsh superstar worked with Olympic hero Chris just three weeks ago, where the track cyclist gave no clue he was dealing with a death sentence.

Colin was a veteran in the Sydney Olympic team in 2000 while the young cyclist was just emerging as a major talent, in his first Olympics.

And the hurdler said the modesty and humility of Hoy has remained with him over the years, enduring after he became a record-breaking, six gold medal Olympian and a national treasure.

Colin said: “When I heard the news about Chris’s terminal cancer, it was really awful.

“You want somebody like that to be around literally forever because the good a man like Chris Hoy can do is priceless.

“I can’t wait to see him again. I’ll see him not too far away and I won’t say a word. I would just give him the biggest hug that he could possibly imagine.”

Colin said when he worked with Sir Chris in London three weeks ago, he had no idea that the cancer lurking in his body was terminal.

No one in the room was remotely aware that Sir Chris was bravely functioning as normal, despite the inevitable anguish bubbling away over his illness.

Colin said: “He was absolutely fine. He was interviewing athletes as well, using Max Whitlock (the gymnast) on the stage, and they were laughing and joking as always.

“At that point, we knew he’d had the cancer diagnosis but we didn’t realize it was terminal. We thought he was on the good side of it, so as you can imagine how shocking it news is for all of us in the sport as well as the as our BBC team as well.”

Colin said the relentless down-to-earthness of Sir Chris has made him a very powerful role model – and is helping him deal with his huge crisis.

He said: “He’s such an inspirational, special character. Chris has never taken anything for granted.

“He’s won six Olympic gold medals but Chris never believes he deserves to be in the room with some of the greatest of all time.

“You know, he just keeps pointing, saying, ‘That’s the champion gymnast Nadia Comaneci there, she’s amazing’, you know, blah, blah, blah.

“But I’d say, ‘You’ve got six gold medals, fella, can I just remind you that you are very much part of this team’.”

Sir Chris, 48, made the heart-rending announcement that his battle with cancer is terminal last weekend.

He also disclosed that his wife Sarra, 40, faces a fight with an aggressive strain of Multiple Sclerosis.

The iconic former track cyclist confided that his “worst fear” amid this sorrowful revelation is the prospect of his children learning about his condition at school from their classmates.

Both Sir Chris and Colin are ambassadors for the Scottish Action for Mental Health charity, which the Rangers Charity Foundation has just announced as official charity partners for 2024/25.

Both have shared a passion for using their fame and success to encourage young people to talk about and conquer their mental health problems.

And both have had severe brushes with anxiety, notably with Sir Chris having to deal with his cancer hell.

Colin said: “Can you imagine what he was under trying to work a family, work a career? His wife had her medical issues as well and then you’re in front of the public’s eye and you’ve got your young
kids that are going to school and going to be exposed to questions themselves all the time?

“How he has managed to keep his mind together in the way that he has done is, for me, just breathtaking, unbelievable. And
the calmness that he still shows about it is one of the best things.”

He added: “I think sometimes we only think of the physical side of things but lots of people who are suffering from cancer will tell you the strain they’re under because they’re unsure what they’re leaving behind.

“There’s a sense of responsibility, all these things that are always working in your head, and you’re trying to deal with that. It’s tough.”

Colin said he wishes his pal all the best with the time he has left, which doctors have advised could be two to four years.

He said: “I want him to enjoy his time. That’s got to be the key factor. And he’s got to be and feel in control of it. So he decides what he wants, if he wants to speak or he doesn’t want to speak about it anymore.”

Colin said Chris’s calm way of dealing with his crushing news, somehow finding positives amid the devastation, has been incredible to witness.

He said: “The way he spoke about it was amazing.”

During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, Colin won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion twice, world indoor champion once, was undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and was twice Commonwealth champion.

Despite much controversy over bringing the Commonwealth Games back to Glasgow 12 years after it was last staged in the city, Colin believes the event will be a huge success.

He said: “I love it being in Scotland. I’m aware there’s a lot of stress and a lot of worry and a lot of angst about stuff before it happens.

“But as soon as it starts happening, people will be loving it.

“There’s a couple of billion people in the Commonwealth, so you want to do it right, because you want Scotland to be seen in its best.

“The last time I was her for the 2014 games, I was way too old to be competing, but it was great to be working here. I think getting the Commonwealth Games, we should support it as much as we possibly.”

Colin’s commitment to SAMH stems from his own mental health struggles. He confessed he still battles anxiety today after an escalation when he hung up his hurdling spikes.

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He said: “I still suffer from it and I’ll suffer for all sorts of reasons. You learn to deal with it, learn to cope.”

He praised Rangers FC and other big sporting institutions for linking with charities like SAMH, saying: “It’s great this collaboration has happened. You have a huge reach when you have these kind of collaborations.”

Rangers Charity Foundation has donated over £6.7million, through cash and in-kind support, to good causes since 2002.

SAMH has been supporting Scotland’s mental health for 100 years, running over 70 services in communities across the country.

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