Twenty years ago, Sir Chris - or just Chris Hoy as he was then - won the first of his six gold medals at the Athens Olympics.

Over his glittering cycling career he won pretty much everything and did it in a way which made him a household name. Not just the power he showcased on his bike - let's not forget he has the world's largest thighs. But he smiled and laughed, was self-deprecating and full of humility.

One of the genuinely nice guys in sport. I've been lucky enough to cover nine Olympic Games but Hoy is special. He was the first Team GB gold medallist I ever interviewed - he'd had no sleep and might have celebrated quite hard the night before, yet despite this, on meeting me burst into a huge grin, gripped and shook my hand and made me feel like I'd won a medal, not him.

• Sir Chris Hoy reveals he has terminal cancer and 'two to four years' to live
• Sir Chris Hoy calls for prostate cancer screening age to be lowered

So in October, when news filtered out that Hoy's cancer diagnosis was terminal, it was a horrible shock for all that know him, and have admired him and his sporting success.

Yet despite that awful news, despite the impact on him, his wife, children, wider family and friends, Hoy has approached this challenge with positivity

Hoy has digested the prognosis that his prostate cancer is life-limiting and now he has found a new purpose.

"For me, my purpose is spreading awareness about it, trying to get men to go and get checked," Hoy said.

"It's a very simple thing to deal with if you catch it early enough.

"I realise how far I've come now. There's no way I could have sat here talking to you six months ago. I would have been a gibbering wreck.

"The overall hope was that it would help people, not just people going through a cancer diagnosis.

"But that you can get through the most extreme situations and pop out the other end, whilst you still have hope and are able to live your life."

An 'unimaginable' 2024

Hoy described this year as "unimaginable" following the news he had prostate cancer. He was told the cancer was stage four, that it had spread and was terminal.

Hoy's doctors have told him he has between two and four years to live.

The positivity Hoy exudes, however, is extraordinary.

"I'm doing well. The best shape I've been in for over a year. I'm physically not in any pain at all," Hoy said.

"Treatment has worked really well, everything is stable and I couldn't have responded better to it.

"So basically in the current situation - the best-case scenario - I'm very grateful. It's been an unimaginable year. Eighteen months ago, if you told me this is what was coming up, you couldn't have imagined it, but that's life, isn't it?

"You get curveballs. It's how you deal with it, and how you make a plan and move forward. I've been so lucky to have genuinely amazing people around me, from family, friends, medical support, the general public."

Sadly, on top of him and his family dealing with the news he had cancer, Hoy revealed the timing of making his cancer diagnosis public was not of his choosing.

"Our hand was forced initially in that a journalist started snooping around so we had to make a very generic announcement that I've been diagnosed with cancer," Hoy said.

"I was about to go through treatment at that point, through chemotherapy, but I was doing OK and in due course we would explain more. That was probably the hardest part.

"It was a big step but I think we knew it was the right thing to do.

"It's almost not wanting speculation, you want to be sure that the facts are out there.

"The less you give, the more people are going to speculate, and the more the media are going to pry and maybe come up with false information, so we thought, 'let's get on the front foot, let's tell the story as it is'.

"One of the biggest motivators personally was it means that I can do something about it."

Hoy heads to Ally Pally

Hoy will make his first visit to the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace over the festive season.

While he may be an Olympic champion on his bike, troubling either of the Lukes - Humphries or Littler - at Ally Pally is unlikely.

"I'm rubbish at it [darts]. I think there's a reason why I took cycling up, not darts," Hoy joked.

"I used to have a dartboard on my bedroom door. I remember every time I hit the wood on the door, my mum would shout, basically giving me grief.

"I remember when I left home to go off to university there was this sort of perfect circle with all these dart holes around it."

Hoy will be urging the players to be on top form, hitting as many 180s and nine-darters as possible.

Sky Sports' coverage of the World Darts Championship is sponsored by Paddy Power, who are donating £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 thrown during the tournament, plus £60,000 for every nine-darter.

"This is really trying to get it front and centre, get men talking to men about it and checking in with their mates," Hoy said.

"These things don't get talked about so this campaign is going to be massive in terms of raising awareness. It's also going to raise a lot of money too."

"I've never been to the darts before. I've seen it on TV and I grew up watching.

"Everyone I've mentioned darts to has said it's like Wimbledon or the FA Cup final. I'm really excited about it and it's great that it's going to be doing so much good as well."

'Get checked sooner rather than later'

Hoy returned to the subject of trying to help others avoid being in the situation he is in with his cancer diagnosis.

"It should be an annual check, I believe. An automatic thing you do, you get it done and it's not a big deal," he said.

"A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a blood test to see if there is any cancer activity in your prostate. There's complications with it so it's not always black and white, but currently it's the best or the only way we can screen for it.

"There are new screening methods which is part of where the money from 'The Bigger 180' is going to go towards, but until then, a PSA blood test is the main thing.

"There's an online risk checker at Prostate Cancer UK you can use.

"If you're Black there are different factors that increase your risk. One in four Black men will have prostate cancer in their lifetime, otherwise it's one in eight.

"Get on it now. Sort it out. And do it sooner rather than later."

(c) Sky Sports 2024: Sir Chris Hoy: Six-time Olympic gold medallist opens up on 'unimaginable' year following cancer diagnosis