The Current

Olympian-turned-Vegas escort Suzy Favor Hamilton shares her story

Suzy Favor Hamilton was an Olympic darling, a former star runner with an undiagnosed bipolar condition. But when she began to embrace the lifestyle of a highly paid Las Vegas escort, she realized it was just another way to run away. From our archives, here is our conservation with Suzy Favour Hamilton.
Suzy Favor-Hamilton of the U.S. sits on the track after she fell and did not finish in her heat of the 1500 meter semifinal at the World Championships in Athletics, in Edmonton August 5, 2001. (Reuters)
That first Olympics took a part of me. The second Olympics same thing happened. So when the third Olympics rolled around ... and now I'm truly the favourite, I had just run the fastest time in the world, I'm suppose to win. And when that didn't happen, I felt my purpose in my life was gone. That was the one thing I was suppose to do my entire life... was to win the gold medal.- Suzy Favor Hamilton

She was a three-time Olympian. A runner with big-time sponsorship deals. A mother and a wife.

In short, Suzy Favor Hamilton was an all-American girl... living every athlete's dream.

But after her last Olympics, when the cheering ended and the time came to settle into a suburban life, she sought out excitement -- and acceptance -- elsewhere.

"The whole world wants me to win. With 100 metres to go, I fell on purpose." says Suzy Favor Hamilton of her race in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. (Getty Images)

And that's how she became one of Las Vegas's most sought after escorts. It left the whole country wondering how the long-distance runner could have strayed so far. 

When it came to the escorting that I fell into, I wanted to be number one. I didn't want to settle for just being the average escort, I wanted to be the number one escort.- Suzy Favor Hamilton

Now Suzy Favor Hamilton is telling her story of success, and mental illness, in her book, "Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness."

Suzy Favor Hamilton joined Anna Maria Tremonti from New York City.
 

This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal.