Matthew Mitcham Reveals Crystal Meth Addiction
BEIJING gold medallist Matthew Mitcham will not be excluded from the 2016 Australian Olympic team despite confessing to a crystal meth addiction, a drug that features as a “stimulant” on the WADA banned list.
Less than 24 hours after the Australian Olympic Committee executive passed a motion that future athletes must sign statutory declarations that they had not used performance-enhancing substances, Mitcham’s revelations provide a crucial first-up test.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that following his Olympic win in 2008 after still failing to be ranked as World #1, he descended into depression:
Self-doubt came crashing back, fueled by injury. Secretly smoking crystal meth to boost his moods, he was soon in the grip of addiction.
He knew the drug’s dangers. But ”taking it was something I did … to take my mind off things that were upsetting me – to make me feel better about myself.”
The openly gay Mitcham has climbed back from last year’s depths with the aid of Narcotics Anonymous, a drug rehabilitation clinic, hypnotherapy and the support of his inner circle. He’s chased the demons away and is training for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
In therapy still, he believes he is happier and healthier. As for fully understanding himself, he writes: ”The answers continue to elude me. I may work it out one day.”
Said Mitcham to Australia’s Nine News program 60 Minutes: “I certainly was addicted to crystal meth…I just felt like such a massive sham.”
In therapy still, he believes he is happier and healthier. As for fully understanding himself, he writes: ”The answers continue to elude me. I may work it out one day.”
Said Mitcham to Australia’s Nine News program 60 Minutes: “I certainly was addicted to crystal meth…I just felt like such a massive sham.”
