Olympic jumper Matthew Mitcham celebrates seven years sober, says he’s “the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been”
Olympic jumper Matthew Mitcham celebrated seven years sober on Monday.
The 34-year-old announced the landmark achievement on his Instagram page, saying he is “happier and healthier than ever.”
“Today I am SEVEN YEARS clean and sober,” wrote Matthew.
Olympic jumper Matthew Mitcham celebrated seven years sober, saying he is “the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been.”
“It’s been seven years since I put anything stronger than a Panadol in my body and I am without a doubt happier and healthier than ever.”
He continued: ‘Not everyone needs sobriety, but I do because I depended on external things to solve internal problems. And although I still have internal problems, I now have internal solutions.’
“I hope everyone had (or is still having) a fun-filled holiday season, and if you wake up one day and think ‘enough is enough’ like I did seven years ago, know that there is plenty of help available if you ask for it. .’
The 34-year-old announced the landmark achievement on his Instagram page, writing: “I am SEVEN YEARS clean and sober today.”
Matthew has previously spoken about his battle with alcohol and methamphetamine as he struggled to cope with a ‘post-Games low’ after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In his final routine, Mitcham set an Olympic record score for a single dive, 112, to stun the home crowd.
In doing so, the Queensland-born Mitcham made history by becoming the first openly gay men’s Olympic champion.
After his triumph in Beijing, Mitcham developed a drug ice dependency when he discovered he was not world number one in the world rankings, despite his Olympic success.
“It’s been seven years since I put anything stronger than a Panadol in my body and I am without a doubt happier and healthier than ever,” she wrote.
Unbelievably, Mitcham felt like a failure and soon found himself training and competing while juggling a crippling drug addiction.
“Knowing that I would be drug tested at every competition, I would detox (from drugs) for the weeks before I compete and go through these horrible withdrawals,” he told the BBC.
“They were so bad that I promised myself with every cell in my body that I would never use them again, but I could never keep that promise.
‘It got dark. My self esteem was shattered, at times killing myself seemed like the easiest way to deal with this, but I eventually took myself to rehab.
Matthew has previously spoken about his battle with alcohol and methamphetamine as he struggled to cope with a ‘post-Games low’ after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In the photo, Matthew and her husband Luke Mitcham