Hockeyroos star Anna Flanagan has spoken candidly about her addiction to alcohol.
The Australian field hockey champion’s life spiralled after she won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and she ended up homeless, suffering from an eating disorder and mental health issues, and even found herself in trouble with the law.
Flanagan, 29, revealed on Triple M Breakfast with MG, Jess & Pagey on Thursday she began drinking soon after the Games when she was ‘home alone and wasn’t allowed to do anything’ and felt ‘buzzed’ by the experience.
‘My life was just a mess’: Hockeyroos star Anna Flanagan (pictured on November 22, 2012, in Perth) has spoken candidly about her addiction to alcohol
‘It happened really quickly, like I couldn’t stop, and that was when my performance suffered but I was still getting all of these opportunities, sponsorship, and it was Olympic year,’ said Flanagan, who is now a year sober.
While dealing with her alcohol binges, Anna was also battling an eating disorder.
The former hockey defender had her first brush with the law when she was arrested in March 2016 in Perth with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit.
First taste: The former hockey defender started drinking during her sporting career when she was ‘home alone and wasn’t allowed to do anything’ and felt ‘buzzed’ by the experience
Hockey Australia dropped her from the national squad, ending her dream to play in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil later that year.
Flanagan claims the sporting body was aware of her troubles with alcohol throughout her career, as well as her eating disorder, but failed to intervene.
In 2017, Flanagan moved to Sydney and after falling on hard times, found herself homeless and living in her car.
She admitted in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that at one stage she wanted to kill herself as her mental health rapidly deteriorated.
‘I was close to taking my own life. I went to The Gap [a notorious suicide spot in Sydney’s east],’ she recalled.
Mental struggles: In 2017, Flanagan moved to Sydney and after falling on hard times, found herself homeless and living in her car. She admitted in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that at one stage she wanted to kill herself as her mental health rapidly deteriorated
Flanagan never returned to the international stage for hockey, but did later play in the Australian Hockey League.
Despite a successful 2018 season, the defender’s alcoholism soon caught up with her and she was dropped once again at the end of the season.
‘A lot of the girls were really worried, but I never admitted it [alcohol addiction]. I did drink on the last day of tour and got dropped right at the end of 2018 and they dropped me from the squad when new coaching staff came in,’ she told Triple M.
Flanagan claimed the coaching staff told her to ‘go away and get better’ after discovering her addiction.
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‘It was very obvious what was going on when you smell like booze,’ she said. ‘Training for three hours, sweating, I’m going to stink.’
Intervention: Despite a successful 2018 season, Flanagan’s alcoholism soon caught up with her and she was dropped once again at the end of the season. She claimed the coaching staff told her to ‘go away and get better’ after discovering her addiction
Flanagan effectively left hockey behind as her addiction to alcohol grew only worse.
In September 2020, the former athlete was arrested for a second time in Sydney’s north-west for high range drink-driving and resisting arrest.
She later faced sentencing in Parramatta Local Court for the two serious criminal offences.
Flanagan revealed at the time she was back to being homeless again and was at the lowest point in her life.
‘Getting arrested was my lowest point, and as terrible as getting picked up by police was, it saved my life. I know it did. Prior to that I just wanted to die,’ she said.
Downward spiral: Flanagan was arrested a second time in September 2020 for high-range drink driving and resisting arrest in north-west Sydney. She admitted she was homeless and at the ‘lowest point’ of her life when she was cuffed and charged
Flanagan says her addiction to alcohol cost her a job, relationships and her house.
‘I was waking up – drinking – passing out, waking up – drinking – it was an all day thing,’ she recounted.
It was then she made the decision to enter rehab, which is where she met Triple M host Chris Page who was also battling alcoholism.
‘I was at the bottom. I had no answers. My life was just a mess,’ she told Page on air.
Her story: It was then she made the decision to enter rehab, which is where she met Triple M host Chris Page (right) who was also battling alcoholism
‘I needed help, and it took me until that really low point where I realised I actually couldn’t stop by myself.’
Flanagan is now a year sober – a milestone which took her ‘three rehab stints, 18 relapses and an arrest’ to reach.
She added that it was the ‘hardest possible thing to get this year up’.
Recovery: Flanagan is now a year sober – a milestone which took her ‘three rehab stints, 18 relapses and an arrest’ to reach. Pictured on July 15, 2017, in Sydney
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