“If I drink again, I die,” confesses former boxer Jérôme Thomas, addicted to alcohol since he was 16

“Si je rebois, je meurs”, confesse l'ancien boxeur Jérôme Thomas. MAXPPP – ARNAUD JOURNOIS

"I am unhappy, lost": in confessions published by the newspaper L'Equipe on Tuesday, double Olympic boxing medalist Jérôme Thomas wanted to discuss his addiction to alcohol, his abuses, and the recently undertaken detoxification treatment.

"If I drink again, I die", says the former flyweight, bronze medal in 2000 in Sydney and silver in 2004 in Athens .

"I have been abstinent for two and a half months now", continues the man who was also crowned world champion in 2001, now aged 45: "Every day will be a combat".

Le Picard, a member of a family of boxers, says he became an alcoholic in 2012, after a career in professional boxing, undertaken after seeing himself removed from the boxing in 2008. preparation for the following Olympics, and completed four years later.

La confession du double médaillé olympique (2000, 2004) est à retrouver également dans notre journal ce mardi pic.twitter.com/bzfFrLPcnd

— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) January 15, 2024

"If I had been serious, I could have been European champion, he said, but I was invited to lots of evenings. He admits to having had difficulty facing "real life", after the "cocoon" from Insep (National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance).

Ambassador for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Among other excesses caused by his addiction, Jérôme Thomas, who lives in Saint-Quentin, his hometown, remembers waking up one morning on a beach. "I told myself that I must be at Tréport or Fort-Mahon. No, I was near Bordeaux! I was like, what the fuck did you jerk off.

Employed by the town hall of Saint-Quentin, which always supported him, "even at the bottom of the hole", the one who admits to having also suffered from ' a gambling addiction was named last year by the mayor as ambassador of the city for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Jérôme Thomas in 2008. MAXPPP TEAMSHOOT – CHEN XIE

Jérôme Thomas also underlines the role played by 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 "would so much like to be happy".