Suzy Favor Hamilton is discussing her life as an Olympian turned Las Vegas escort in advance of next week’s release of her book, “Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness.”
The three-time Olympic runner said she was bipolar and contemplated suicide after the birth of her daughter in 2005, according to Sports Illustrated and People magazine.
“Driving home, I prepared to drive my car into a tree,” she said, according to People. “I accelerated faster. But I was getting closer to home where my sweet baby girl was waiting. You have to stay alive for her.”
Favor Hamilton mentioned Olympic experiences in a book excerpt here.
A broadcast interview with Favor Hamilton will air on ABC’s “20/20" on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET, the network said.
It was revealed in December 2012 that Favor Hamilton, who retired from running in 2006, had spent the previous year working as a $600/hour escort in Las Vegas and other cities. Again, she said she contemplated suicide after she was outed.
“The next morning, my darkest thoughts were on a loop: I had shamed my parents, my husband, our family,” she said, according to People. “It would be better if I were dead.”
Favor Hamilton, now 47, has said she led the double life to cope with depression.
Favor Hamilton was best known before the December 2012 admission for the 2000 Olympic 1500m final, when she gave up the lead coming around the final curve and then collapsed to the track with less than 100 meters to go and in sixth place.
She had dedicated the race to brother Dan Favor, a manic-depressive who had committed suicide in 1999 after he stopped taking medication.
Years later, Favor Hamilton said she fell intentionally after realizing she would not win a medal.
“Falling down at the Olympics is where my spiral down started,” she said in the People interview published Wednesday. “I felt like such a failure.”
Favor Hamilton said the high of her escort life was greater than the high of running races and winning, according to Sports Illustrated.
“I still crave that high,” she said, according to People. “I can’t say I’ll never act out in that way again.”
MORE TRACK AND FIELD: Top 10 performances from World Championships
