Ex-Olympian Admits Working as Vegas Call Girl
Three-time U.S. Olympic middle distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton has admitted working as a high-priced escort after a website broke the story on Thursday.
Favor Hamilton, 44, has been working as a call girl for the past year based in Las Vegas and charging $600. an hour for her services, according to a report in The Smoking Gun. The website reported that Favor Hamilton worked under the alias "Kelly Lundy" but said she told some clients her true identity.
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Favor Hamilton competed for the U.S. at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000 but did not win any medals. She became famous during the Sydney Olympics in 2000 for intentionally falling to the track in the 1500 meter final when it became clear she could not medal in honor of her late brother, Dan.
The athlete issued an apology for her actions shortly after the report was published. "I realize I have made highly irrational choices and I take full responsibility for them," she said via Twitter. "I am not a victim here and knew what I was doing."
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She added that she turned to the escort business to escape depression and marital problems. "I was drawn to escorting in large part because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life. It provided an escape from a life that I was struggling in. It was a double life."
The Smoking Gun reported that Favor Hamilton has been living in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and seven-year-old daughter in a $600,000 home. But she was reportedly booked by an escort agency for dates in Las Vegas and other cities around the country. The website quoted her as saying that her husband was aware of her escort work, and that, "He tried -- he tried to get me to stop. He wasn't supportive of this at all."
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In another tweet she wrote: "I do not expect people to understand, but the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression. As crazy as I know it seems, I never thought I would be exposed, therefore never hurting anybody. I have been seeking the help of a psychologist for the past few weeks and will continue to do so after I have put things together."