He was attending Alexandra Palace, just weeks after suffering the cycling accident that happened while he is also battling terminal prostate cancer.
Sir Chris Hoy walked onto the stage on crutches to present the trophy(Image: Sky News)
With thousands of people watching as Luke Littler faced Gian van Veen in the World Darts Championship final on Saturday, viewers also had their eyes on another sportsman. Presenting the Ballon d’Art trophy to the winner was Olympic cyclist, Sir Chris Hoy who appeared on crutches.
The esteemed athlete made his first public appearance since a terrifying crash that left him with a severe leg injury. He was attending Alexandra Palace, just weeks after suffering the cycling accident that happened while he is also battling terminal prostate cancer, reports Wales Online.
Speaking to Sky Sports in December, Hoy said: “I’ve smashed my leg up on the mountain bike, that’s the worst thing that’s happened recently. You just don’t bounce like you do when you’re younger. It was a big one.
“I’m doing better now, I’m still on crutches, hobbling about, but by the time I’m there for the darts final on January 3, hopefully I’ll be a bit more mobile.”
The former Olympic competitor announced in February 2024 he was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer and in October 2024 he confirmed his diagnosis was terminal.
The primary cancer spread to his bones, with doctors giving him between two and four years to live. Sir Chris Hoy presented the trophy to first time winner Luke Littler tonight after winning the final match against Gian van Veen.
Luke Littler became the first player to defend his World Darts Championship final since Gary Anderson in 2016, by breezing past Gian van Veen in the final at Alexandra Palace.
The World number one came out as 6-1 winner over his Dutch opponent to seal the crown and pocket the £1 million prize money. It adds to his career £1,970,500 earned by Littler over the last two years.
The 18-year-old comfortably made it through the latter stages of the competition to book his place in the final. He overcame Krzysztof Ratajski 5-0 in the quarter-final before beating Ryan Searle 6-1 in the semi-final.
The teenager appeared emotional in the moments following the final darts. He was soon celebrating again when he got his hands on the trophy for the second year running.
In winning the tournament back-to-back, Littler becomes just the fourth player to do so. It comes after he won six major tournaments in 2025, with the new year getting off to the perfect start.
Speaking to Sky Sports, after lifting the trophy, Littler said: “I started playing a bit better from there (set three), obviously the first set, I wasn’t happy going into the break 1-0 down, but I just had to kick on from there.
“I said to myself again just give it time, you’ll find it. I started off at the left of the oche, I moved over to the right and it all came to plan.
“Gian, what a tournament, he can be very happy with himself, in every set, he was there, he was behind me and I had to take my chances.”
On the prize money he said: “It’s lifechanging, even for this tournament, for anyone, it’s been doubled, obviously, the winners, the runners up the semi-finalists.
“But it’s life changing, absolutely life changing, but this win has increased the gap to Luke Humphries and I’m clear as World number one.”
When asked what his first purchase will be, he responded with: “I don’t know, I can’t change car yet. We’ll have to see.”