Former professional road and track racer Jack Bobridge has spoken out publicly for the first time since spending two and a half years in prison for drug dealing.
In a short interview on the Nine Network's A Current Affair programme over the weekend, the now-35-year-old reflected on his downward spiral since retiring from the sport after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Near-unrecognisable, Bobridge spoke through tears about the combination of factors that led to his eventual arrest in 2017, and imprisonment in 2019.
Bobridge suffered from rheumatoid arthritis throughout much of his career and was given a therapeutic use exemption to take otherwise-banned corticosteroids to help manage the condition. Still, the arthritis was debilitating at times.
"It got to the point where my whole body ... it was even a struggle to get out of bed," he said on A Current Affair. "I couldn't put my socks on because my feet were so sore, let alone get up and go training."
Bobridge told A Current Affair that he turned to alcohol and recreational drugs while still racing as something of an escape from his condition.
“Probably through that period of the meds and feeling chronic fatigue ... the drinking started just to try and numb what was going on and try get away from everything," he said. "But when you think about it, it numbed it for that period, until you woke up in the morning, and it was probably 10 times worse."
While Bobridge had long used MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine during his time as a pro cyclist, he said that the habit grew once he retired in late 2016.
"There was no competition anymore, so there was no barrier then," he said. "So it sort of opened up the door. I didn't matter. I could do what I wanted when I wanted.”
Less than a year after his final races as a professional, Bobridge was arrested and charged with two counts of 'sell and supply a trafficable quantity of MDMA' and three counts of 'sell and supply MDMA'. By mid 2019 he'd been found guilty and sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment, with two and a half years before he was eligible for parole.
“In reality, I was never a drug dealer," Bobridge said. "I was using a lot of drugs. And obviously at that point in time I was getting drugs for my friends, which, I guess some people will say, yes, it is dealing, but there was never any profit in it.”
Bobridge ended up getting parole after two and a half years – in early 2022 – but hadn't spoken publicly until his recent interview. Bobridge said on A Current Affair that he has now come to terms with his journey, but still regrets letting his loved ones down.
"I can take that on for myself but it's hard to take on for everyone you let down around you," he said, crying. "My daughter as well – she was only young. She didn't know what was happening."
In reflecting on his descent, Bobridge called for more support for retiring athletes.
“I take full responsibility for the things I did and drinking and the recreational drug side of things, but I just wish there was more support with athletes," he said. “You feel like you give 100% to your sport and to your nation, and then when you do finish, you're just dropped. That's it. You're finished.
"There was never any phone calls, there was never any emails. There was nothing after I retired. It was just gone. You just vanished.”
Bobridge raced as a professional on the road and track from 2010 through 2016, combining the two disciplines to considerable success. On the track he managed three world titles, two Commonwealth Games gold medals, and he rode to two Olympic silver medals as part of Australia's team pursuit squad (London 2012 and Rio 2016).
On the road he managed a handful of wins, including a brilliant solo stage win at the 2015 Tour Down Under (while racing for the Australian national team) and one of the greatest rides ever seen at the Australian Road Nationals: a 90 km solo effort to take his second national title.
Nowadays, Bobridge is living in Perth and working as a bricklayer. He also owns a mobile coffee van. He says he's no longer taking recreational drugs, but is still on daily medication for his arthritis.
“I struggle day to day with my arthritis, with my meds," he said. "I just hope, if my story can ... help one person not to do what I did ... that would be the goal if they're struggling.
"It's not weak to put your hand up and ask for help. I didn't, and look where I ended up.”
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