US Olympic Hero Forced to Live on Streets After Life Spiralled Out of Control
A former American cyclist, who won two Olympic medals, ended up sleeping rough after becoming homeless just a few years after quitting the sport.
Most successful Olympic athletes, such as Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, are set for life following appearances at the Games, but not everyone has been so fortunate.
Former cyclist Rebecca Twigg, now 62, won silver at the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles before taking bronze eight years later in Barcelona.
She also won six world championships, resulting in her appearing in sponsored ads and featuring in Vanity Fair and Sports Illustrated.
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Back then, Twigg was considered one of the best cyclists the US had produced, but she did not get the financial benefits as much as some of her Team USA counterparts did.
In 1997, Twigg quit following the world championships and spent several years working office jobs, but struggled to maintain a permanent role due to suffering from anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
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“Once you’ve done something that feels like you’re born to do it, it’s hard to find anything that’s that good of a fit,” Twigg told the Seattle Times in 2019.
As of 2019, she had been homeless for five years, living rough on the streets of Seattle while sometimes sleeping in her car, homeless shelters, and occasionally with friends and family.
Comparing her former training regime with the reality of life without a home, Twigg said: “Some of the hard days are really painful when you’re training for racing.
“But being homeless, when you have little hope or knowledge of where the finish line is going to be, is just as hard.”
Twigg, who has twice been married and has one daughter, said she never made more than $50,000 (£38,000) a year from her exploits on the bike while she refused housing, citing that “other people” need accommodation more than herself as the reason for her decision.
The 62-year-old also claimed that she had a feeling of “not really belonging” anywhere due to the fact that she was kicked out of her family home at a young age, before her sporting career saw her constantly travel from place to place.
Twigg and her sister had been living in a Seattle basement with their mother during their youth before she was kicked out just a few months shy of her 16th birthday.
The following years saw Twigg sleep in hotels and friends' houses while she pursued her cycling career before eventually being offered a base at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs ahead of the 1984 Games in LA.
In 2019, Twigg revealed that she is rarely recognised by the public and hasn’t ridden a bike for years.
It is unclear if Twigg is still homeless.
Luke Davies