Former cycling champion Bradley Wiggins recently opened up about his struggles with cocaine addiction following his retirement from professional cycling. Each of the above ideas were given wings by 2012 Tour de France winner and eight-time Olympic medalist, who confessed to his personal addiction problem. He called himself the “victim of his own decisions.” Wiggins is now a year sober and thriving in that space. He drove home just how lucky he was to not have lost it all during this most difficult time.
Wiggins took his leave from competitive cycling after 2016. He shared the deep valleys when he was high nearly all of the time. He acknowledged that there were occasions when his son Ben was afraid for his life. There are mornings when my son was afraid he was going to wake up and find me dead. I was a functioning addict. People wouldn’t realize,” he stated. Wiggins eventually confessed that at times, he went days without speaking to his family. At one point, he only lived in a hotel as he fought his addiction around the clock.
The Role of Family and Friends
Even as he fought for his life, Wiggins’ family was never far from worried. His son Ben was still conscious of his father’s plight and had regular communications with his dad throughout his scary ordeal. “My son speaks to Lance a lot. He’d ask my son, ‘How’s your Dad?’ Ben might say in the aftermath, “I haven’t heard from him in a couple of weeks. I do know he’s been living in a hotel. Wiggins shared.
Former Tour de France champion and cyclist Lance Armstrong had a major influence on Wiggins’ recovery path. In December of last year, Armstrong, Wiggins stated, made a hugely generous gesture funding therapy for Wiggins to deal with his mental health struggles. The relationship between these two champions gave Wiggins early exposure to critical insights and inspiration as he moved in and out of his addiction and incarceration.
The Road to Recovery
Reflecting on his journey, Wiggins was thankful to have gotten his life back on track. Heroin addiction was a “really bad problem,” he said. He acknowledged that it was difficult for him to recognize how bad off he was. “I was dealing with a huge issue, and I had to really take a step back,” he continued. “Thankful to be here now […] for a long time, I was a victim of my own decisions,” he added.
Since getting clean, Wiggins now works on putting his life back together and finding his way back to his family. He hopes to leverage his experiences to educate others about the struggles of those fighting addiction. He wants to show how anyone in his or her position can make a difference.
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