Cycling champion Bradley Wiggins says he was a cocaine addict and is 'lucky' to be alive
Former Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has revealed he became addicted to cocaine after retiring from cycling.
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In an interview with British newspaper The Observer, the five-time Olympic gold medalist said he is 'lucky' to be alive.
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'There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning,' the 45-year-old Wiggins said. 'I was a functioning addict. People wouldn't realize. I was high for most of the time for years.'
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The British cyclist was a gold medalist in four straight Olympics from 2004 and won the Tour in 2012. He retired in 2016.
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In 2022, he made an allegation in an interview with Men's Health UK magazine that he was sexually groomed by a coach — whose name he did not reveal — when he was 13 years old.
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In a soon-to-be-published autobiography, The Chain, Wiggins detailed how his life spiraled into a cycle of debt and addiction after retirement from the sport.
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Wiggins told the Observer his cocaine addiction became a 'really bad problem' and he was 'walking a tightrope.' He quit his addiction a year ago, the newspaper said.
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