Jérôme Thomas, a two-time Olympic boxing medalist who retired from the ring for 12 years, revealed his alcohol-related problems in the newspaper The team Tuesday, January 16th. He is the only French boxer to have won two medals at the Olympic Games: bronze in Sydney in 2000 and silver in Athens in 2004 (both in flyweight).

“If I drink again, I’ll die, Picard testifies. I’ve been sober for two and a half months now. (…) It will be a battle every day. (…) I’m unhappy, lost. »

Jérôme Thomas, a member of a boxing fraternity, explains that he became an alcoholic in 2012 after starting a career in professional boxing after being excluded from preparing for the following matches in 2008, ending four years later.

“I could have become European champion”

“If I was serious, I could have become European champion, he said, but I was invited to a lot of parties. » He admits he had difficulty facing it ” true life “after “Cocoon” from the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep).

Jérôme Thomas, who lives in his hometown of Saint-Quentin, remembers waking up one morning on the beach, among other excesses caused by his addiction. “I told myself that I had to be in Tréport or Fort-Mahon. No, I was near Bordeaux! I thought, “What the fuck were you jerking off to?” »

The former boxer also highlights the role of his partner, with whom he has lived for three years: “The four people who saved my life were her and my three brothers. She is my pillar”confesses the one who “I would really like to be happy”.