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17th June 2024
03:50pm BST
Olympic gold medallist, Sir Bradley Wiggins, may be forced to sell his gold medals after being declared bankrupt earlier this month.
Wiggins, 44, was declared bankrupt by a court on June 3rd and has had his converted barn in North Lancashire, valued at £975,000, repossessed by a building society.
His lawyer, Alan Sellers, told the Daily Mail that Wiggins is bankrupt, homeless and has ‘lost everything’.
The Lancaster-born cyclist rose to fame after becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France. He is the only rider to win both the Tour de France and Olympic Gold in the same year, winning them a week apart in 2012.
He went on to win five Olympic gold medals and was world champion in four different disciplines but since his retirement in 2016, Wiggins has suffered financial difficulties in his business ventures.
Mr Sellers told the Mail: “Brad is sofa-surfing. He stays with friends and family. I don’t know where he stayed last night, I don’t know where he will stay tonight or tomorrow night. He doesn’t have an address.”
Wiggins has three children with his ex-wife Cath, who has reportedly allowed him to stay in a redbrick semi in Lytham St Annes.
Trustees will be appointed to seize his assets which could include medals and trophies.
According to a sports memorabilia valuer, Wiggins five gold medals alone could be worth £250,000.
Sellers said: “It is a total mess. He has lost absolutely everything. His family home, his home in Majorca, his savings and investments. He doesn’t have a penny. It’s a very sad state of affairs.”
The lawyer added that Wiggins was embarrassed by the situation.
A similar situation arose for Tennis star Boris Becker in 2022, when he was ordered to hand over his Wimbledon trophies after being declared bankrupt.
It’s not the first time Wiggins has faced financial difficulties. Wiggins Rights Limited, a firm owned by Sir Bradley, his ex-wife Cath and mum Linda, went into liquidation in 2020 after owing £650,000.
At the time, a spokesperson for Wiggins said his involvement was “not day to day” and that “this in no way affects Bradley’s personal solvency.”
However, liquidators made a £1million claim against him, something which he disputed.
A claim for £760,373 made a year prior had been escalated, with administrators, who were seeking money from to pay back an overdrawn director's loan, "reviewing the company’s books and records".
In September that year administrators' documents revealed Sir Bradley entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.
Previously, Wiggins has said that the financial difficulties were “a very historical matter” involving “professional negligence” by others and has "left a s***pile with my name at the front of it to deal with".
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