Sir Chris Hoy handed special World Darts Championship invite as tragic star sends inspirational message

Sir Chris Hoy is set for an emotional stage appearance at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

The Scottish icon has been invited by the tournament sponsors to hand out an award on Finals night. Sir Chris is due at the Alexandra Palace to give out the Ballon d’Art trophy which Paddy Power are awarding to the player who has the most 180s through the duration of the event.

The 48-year-old, who announced two months ago that his cancer is terminal, is scheduled to do the honours on Friday, January 3. Hoy, who won six Olympic gold medals, has given his support to The BIGGER 180, the charity partnership with Prostate Cancer UK at the Championship.

The BIGGER 180 sees £1,000 donated by Paddy Power to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 achieved at the World Darts Championship, while a £180,000 bonus for every nine-darter will be split equally between the charity, the player and a lucky fan attending the event.

Funds raised through The BIGGER 180 will be used to support Prostate Cancer UK’s ground-breaking TRANSFORM trial, aimed to find ways to diagnose prostate cancer earlier.

Hoy’s involvement in the BIGGER 180 campaign is to try to raise awareness of the 30-second online risk checker with the hope that 180,000 men will have taken action before the close of the Championship.

As the campaign launched, he said: “This isn’t about medals or records. It’s about saving lives.. If sharing my story gets just one person to check their risk or book a screening, then it’s all been worth it.

“I didn’t have any symptoms until it was too late. By the time I felt pain, it wasn’t in my prostate anymore. It was secondary cancer in my bones. If I’d thought to check earlier, maybe I’d have caught it in time. That’s why this campaign is so