http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-suzy-hamilton-escort-20121220,0,6634254.story
Former U.S. Olympic runner Suzy Favor Hamilton has been working for the last year as a high-priced escort, charging clients up to $600 an hour.
The story was first reported by thesmokinggun.com. A reporter for the website approached Hamilton in the lobby of a Las Vegas hotel. At first she denied it, before finally admitting she was an escort.
On her Twitter account Thursday, Hamilton took full responsibility for her actions:
"I cannot emphasize enough how sorry I am to anyone I have hurt as a result of my actions and greatly appreciate the support from family and those closest to me.
"I fully intend to make amends and get back to being a good mother, wife, daughter, and friend."
She also talked about her reasons for becoming an escort:
"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."
And she said she was seeking help:
"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.
"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."
Hamilton is married and has a 7-year-old daughter. Her escort life was uncovered when she was outed by a client, but she told The Smoking Gun that she won't be vindictive by telling who it was.
“He totally broke all the rules by outing me. I don’t want to be like him. Because he is scum. And I will not become scum to make myself feel good,” Favor Hamilton said. “I will not do it. I would suffer rather than go that route of being vindictive.”
Hamilton ran in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics, failing to medal each time. She is a winner of nine NCAA running titles, specializing in the 800- and 1,500-meter events while at the University of Wisconsin.
