British cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins does not know how he survived the dark times of his drug addiction, admitting he used to use his Olympic gold medal to snort cocaine.
A remarkable career on the international stage all came to an end in 2016 for Wiggins as he announced his retirement from the sport.
But the years that followed were not as simple as he had slipped into addiction.
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Wiggins was the first Briton to win the Tour de France in 2012 and followed his achievement with a gold medal at the Olympic Games later that year.
That gold medal marked the fifth time that he stood on top of the Olympic podium.
Bradley Wiggins in action at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Getty
The 45-year-old admits he is lucky to still be alive following his career as he found himself in hotels for up to two weeks, consuming as much as 120 grams of cocaine.
Wiggins’ actions ultimately saw his marriage break down while his children feared for his safety.
Reflecting on the highest moments of his career in his upcoming autobiography, The Chain, Wiggins revealed the toll his actions had on his family.
“I raged as I smashed up my 2012 trophy for Sports Personality of the Year and my knighthood: ‘This isn’t success’,” an extract of his book wrote.
“I did that in front of my kids. No wonder there were times when they talked about trying to put me in rehab.
“The desecration of my Olympic medal might have happened away from their gaze, but it’s equally sad to reflect on.”
Sports Minister Hugh Robertson hands over the Trophy to Bradley Wiggins after he won the Tour De France 2012 Tour de France. PA Images via Getty Images
Wiggins filed for bankruptcy in 2024 after running out of funds to pay for the hotels he was staying at and also the drugs he was consuming.
The former Tour de France winner then spent time living in his car as well as on the benches in a park in Clapham, England.
Asked how he stayed alive, Wiggins admits he was unsure.
“I don’t know, I don’t like to think about it,” he told The Times.
But even after receiving a knighthood, Wiggins felt he had mocked his own success.
“Hundreds of thousands of people roaring me on, millions more watching at home,” an extract from his autobiography continued.
“One of the great moments of London 2012, and there I am in a wardrobe snorting cocaine [off my gold medal], mocking my achievement, hating it for what I believed it had brought me.
Bradley Wiggins poses with his gold medal Corbis via Getty Images
“It was the equivalent of pissing on someone’s grave, and in that moment, I was pissing on my own.
“The gold medal, the Tour de France… all of it was dead to me. The person I’d been in Paris and London was dead to me, too.”
Wiggins has been in a recovery program over the past 12 months thanks to the persuasion of his close friend and seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.
The road and track racing cyclist confirmed that he still holds a good relationship with his 20-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter despite his post-career troubles.
Wiggins, who is now in a relationship with an American woman who is also the mother to his youngest daughter, also still speaks with ex-wife Cath.
He admits he is proud to be able to take his youngest daughter, five, to school each day.