Sir Chris Hoy, one of Britain’s greatest ever Olympic athletes, announced in February that he had been diagnosed with cancer, describing the six-time gold medallist as “optimistic, positive and full of love”.

The 48-year-old performed at the Royal Box at Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone earlier this month while continuing chemotherapy treatment.

He travelled to Paris for the 2024 Olympics and was part of the BBC team during the Games, working as a commentator at the Velodrome.

“The second half of a perfect British sporting weekend!” the Scot wrote on Instagram. “Wimbledon on Saturday, Silverstone GP on Sunday.”

Hoy, Britain’s third most decorated Olympian, announced her cancer diagnosis earlier this year, telling her followers: “I feel fine at the moment. I’m continuing to work, cycle and live my life as normal.

“We have an exciting year of work ahead of us, especially with the Paris Olympics in July. I can’t wait to get to work, have fun and share it with you all.”

It may seem hard to believe ahead of the anticipated success at Paris 2024, but at the opening of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Team GB’s cycling team had gone into the event having won just two gold medals in almost a century.

The 1908 Olympics saw five gold medals won by UK athletes, but only two have been won since then: by Thomas Lance and Harry Ryan in the tandem race in 1920, and by Chris Boardman in the individual pursuit in 1992.

Sydney capped the season with a gold medal in the time trial with Jason Queally, but the future of British Olympic cycling lay in silver and bronze medals.

Hoy completed his Olympic debut with a silver medal in the team sprint, but by the time he arrived in Athens in 2004 he was already leading a new generation of British cyclists who, along with Bradley Wiggins, would go on to achieve unprecedented success for more than a decade.

Born in Edinburgh in 1976, Hoy was involved in a wide range of sporting activities from a young age, competing internationally in BMX and representing Scotland’s national junior rowing team. He joined his first cycling club in 1990 at the age of 14, and by 1999 was representing Great Britain at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

The 2000 Olympics brought Hoy his first Olympic medal alongside Queally and Craig MacLean, and he established himself as the favourite in the men’s track time trial in 2004. He lived up to high expectations by winning the gold medal and setting a new Olympic record of 1:00.711.

But what would be the crowning moment for many Olympians was only the beginning for Hoy and Team GB. Beijing 2008 brought 14 medals for Team GB cycling, with Hoy and Wiggins once again at the centre of things (alongside Jason Kenny and Victoria Pendleton) and the Scot taking three more gold medals in the sprint, team sprint and keirin. Later that year he would be knighted.

In 2012 Hoy was coming to the end of his dazzling career but still managed to win gold in the World Cup at the new London Velodrome. A few months later he was Team GB’s flag bearer at his home Olympics and although he did not compete in the sprint this time, he retained his gold medals in the keirin and team sprint, overtaking Sir Steve Redgrave to become Britain’s most successful Olympian.

With more gold medals for Wiggins, Pendleton, Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, the transformation of British cycling was complete. Hoy announced her retirement in 2013, ending a career that brought her Olympic glory as well as 11 world titles and two Commonwealth crowns, and her legacy lives on in the continued British dominance of Olympic cycling – Team GB topped the medal table at the Games in 2016 and 2021, winning a total of 12 medals across both editions.

Following his retirement, Hoy remained in the sporting world for some time, continuing his love of motorsport by competing in the British GT Championship and Le Mans.

Hoy said in February that he had hoped to keep his cancer diagnosis private but said it was “forced” and that he wanted privacy “for the sake of my young family”.

She added: “I am optimistic, positive and surrounded by love which I am truly grateful for. As you can imagine, the last few months have been incredibly difficult.

“But right now I feel fine and continue to work, cycle and live my life normally.

“We have an exciting year of work ahead of us, especially with the Paris Olympics in July. I can’t wait to get to work, have fun and share it with you all.”