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Five-time Olympic cycling champion Bradley Wiggins, who was awarded a knighthood in 2013 by British Queen Elizabeth for his achievements, has revealed that he was a victim of se*ual abuse as a teenager. The winner of the 2012 Tour de France said the coach abused him as a 13-year-old, according to Hina.
The now 41-year-old cyclist, who has competed in road cycling and track cycling, is considered one of the best British athletes of all time. He won a total of eight Olympic medals, including five gold and seven world titles.
Wiggins said he could not talk about it before because of a difficult relationship with his stepfather, and in an interview with the May issue of the British magazine Men's Health said he had never fully come to terms with the abuse.
“I was groomed by a coach when I was younger – I was about 13 – and I never fully accepted that,” said the British star in an interview for Men’s Health UK. Asked if he was talking about se*ual abuse, he added: “Yes.
It all impacted me as an adult ... I buried it. My stepfather was quite violent to me, he used to call me a fa*got for wearing Lycra and stuff, so I didn’t think I could tell him,” he said. “I was such a loner.
I just wanted to get out of the environment. I became so insular. I was quite a strange teenager in many ways and I think the drive on the bike stemmed from adversity”.
Wiggins battled the depression
Wiggins had previously said he suffered from depression and had a difficult childhood.
He added that he spent most of his life trying to understand his relationship with his father, Australian cyclist Gary Wiggins, who left the family while Bradley was still young and died in 2008 after an argument at a house party.
“It was definitely to do with my dad,” Wiggins answered when asked what he was trying to escape from in life. “He was my hero. I wanted to prove myself to him. He was a good cyclist – he could have been really good – but he was a wasted talent.
He was an alcoholic, a manic depressive, quite violent and he took a lot of amphetamines and drugs back then”. Wiggins peaked in 2012 when he became the first British Tour winner, and just days later he won Olympic gold in the time trial in London.
Wiggo, as he was called, was the only one to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling and on the track. He ended his successful career at the end of 2016. He now works as a professional commentator.
