Suzy Favor Hamilton - Ex. US athlete admits she worked as an escort

[MINAM]

Never heard of her before, but this is "interesting"

http://news.yahoo.com/suzy-favor-ham...1330--spt.html

Reminds me of Luis Brunel's "Belle De Jour".

[overedge]

She was touted as the great hope of American track in the mid 1980s, and then had a lot of injuries and personal problems (partly brought on by her own high expectations, and of those around her). I get the sense she had a really hard time dealing with not becoming a consistently world class runner, and then with not being a runner at all.

[MINAM]

Thanks.

I don't think Disney will be pleased.

[Sylvia]

New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/sp...gles.html?_r=0

The disclosure, while startling, followed admissions by Favor Hamilton in recent years that her stellar running career and her personal life had sometimes been troubled. Since retiring, Favor Hamilton has said she felt enormous pressure as an athlete, not only to win but to be perfect.

And she has said that she struggled with family tragedy, self-doubt and an eating disorder while trying to succeed in a sport that gains significant attention once every four years during the Summer Olympics, where winners are celebrated, usually briefly, and where losers are quickly forgotten after putting enormous effort into one moment.
...

The 2000 Sydney Games gave Favor Hamilton one final chance to win an Olympic medal and escape a reputation that she was not reliable in major international competitions. Entering the Olympics, she had the fastest 1,500-meter time in the world that year. She led the final with 150 meters remaining. She was running in honor of her brother, Dan Favor, who had committed suicide a year earlier. But she began to struggle to breathe and her legs grew heavy. Other runners passed her. Then Favor Hamilton fell to the track after the final turn without colliding with another runner.

Years later, after therapy, she admitted she had fallen on purpose after realizing she could not win.

“I wanted that gold so bad,” Favor Hamilton told The [Milwaukee] Journal Sentinel. “I thought that was the only way to true happiness in my life. It was unbelievable how I let my brain get so out of perspective.”
...

Favor Hamilton said she revealed her true identity to some of her clients and suspected that one of them eventually called a reporter.

“I’m owning up to what I did,” Favor Hamilton said. “I would not blame anybody except myself. Everybody in this world makes mistakes. I made a huge mistake. Huge.”

[orbitz]

What does working as an 'escort' really mean? Since her husband was aware of what she was doing, I think all she did was provide platonic companionship to men on public "dates".

[overedge]

What does working as an 'escort' really mean? Since her husband was aware of what she was doing, I think all she did was provide platonic companionship to men on public "dates".

'Escort' agencies don't charge that sort of $$ for platonic companionship.

[Skittl1321]

'Escort' agencies don't charge that sort of $$ for platonic companionship.

Yeah, but if she was working as a prostitute why wouldn't news agencies call it that? Call a spade a spade. I'm also very confused what they mean exactly by escort. Especially since she is married, and while her husband doesn't like her doing it, he's still with her. I don't really believe in divorce, but I think finding out my spouse had a side living as a prostitute, and continued with it after a discussion would be pretty decent grounds for divorce.

[michiruwater]

For you it would be. For him, apparently not.

Escort can mean all sorts of things, which is why they aren't calling it flat-out prostitution because it's different. For $600, yes, you can bet that sex-for-money was part of the deal, but you can bet that there was more than that as well. Prostitution normally refers to something more like what we see in the movies. Escorting is more... I guess I would say high-class, for that sort of thing. The woman (or man; there are male escorts) will normally dress nicely, there might be a real date or a function involved, etc.

However, I'm sure the magazine doesn't know the specifics of what kind of dates, etc., she provided. So all they can really do is call it 'escorting' and let the imagination run wild.

Personally, I've never understood why prostitution is illegal. I think it should be made legal, taxed heavily, and measures should be put in to make sure everything is safe and clean and the girls aren't abused. But we still live in a society where Sex Is Bad.

[my little pony]

it says here the more intimate girlfriend experience was 6,000. i wonder how many of the johns look like richard gere.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1224594

[Angelskates]

I never understand why things like this are news. Consenting adults. She and her husband (and daughter), may have some things to work through, but so do most husbands, and wives and kids. No one's business but theirs.

[numbers123]

for me this falls in the category of "so what"? Her husband knew, didn't like it, but stayed with her.

No one seems to care to name the escorted men. I think that it falls into the "women should never enjoy sex and would not want multiple encounters whereas men will also think about sex"" Maybe she enjoyed it but now that it is public information, she feels she has to defend why that is acceptable to others (having issues with ppd, or ptsd or whatever). I am not saying she didn't have those issues, but that it sort of falls in the category of reasons that one might make to make the actions acceptable to others.

[Prancer]

Personally, I've never understood why prostitution is illegal. I think it should be made legal, taxed heavily, and measures should be put in to make sure everything is safe and clean and the girls aren't abused. But we still live in a society where Sex Is Bad.

As with most things, however, it's not that simple. Legalizing prostitution tends to lead to an increase in sex trafficking, among other things.

I'm not certain it is possible for sex workers to not be abused in prostitution. Or perhaps exploited is a better word.

No one seems to care to name the escorted men.

Not in this case, perhaps, but when a man who is famous for something else is caught hiring prostitutes--or escorts--he is named, no?

I think that it falls into the "women should never enjoy sex and would not want multiple encounters whereas men will also think about sex"" Maybe she enjoyed it but now that it is public information, she feels she has to defend why that is acceptable to others (having issues with ppd, or ptsd or whatever). I am not saying she didn't have those issues, but that it sort of falls in the category of reasons that one might make to make the actions acceptable to others.

I think that if all she wanted to do was have sex with multiple men, she could have done it in a much less complicated way. The fact that she chose to become a prostitute rather than just a woman who had sex with multiple men just because she enjoys sex would be more indicative of psychological problems than not, but perhaps that's just me.

[manleywoman]

I think that if all she wanted to do was have sex with multiple men, she could have done it in a much less complicated way. The fact that she chose to become a prostitute rather than just a woman who had sex with multiple men just because she enjoys sex would be more indicative of psychological problems than not, but perhaps that's just me.

I think she needed the cash.

[Prancer]

I think she needed the cash.

According to the first article:

She lives in Madison, Wis., where, The Smoking Gun reported, she and her husband, Mark, live in a $600,000 home and appear to be in no financial distress based on the website's review of court and municipal records.

Now they could still be in financial trouble, of course. But I think more people would understand "I was broke" than "I was depressed" as a reason for going into prostitution. I would sure use the former as an excuse before I'd use the latter. That could just be me, though.

[Coco]

Lots of people are cash poor and can hide it well.

Or maybe her hubby controlled the $$.

If she really did this for the $$, she might find that so shameful that she'd rather blame depression.

I think she was just an andrenaline junkie and needed a rush that normal illicit affairs couldn't provide.

[numbers123]

I think that if all she wanted to do was have sex with multiple men, she could have done it in a much less complicated way. The fact that she chose to become a prostitute rather than just a woman who had sex with multiple men just because she enjoys sex would be more indicative of psychological problems than not, but perhaps that's just me.

But if you are good at something (and I don't know whether or not she is) and someone is willing to pay you for your abilities, why turn it down?

Let's see,if someone plays basketball well, in fact excellent, but it is just a game, why not get paid for it - like the are? We don't attach diseases, or place a stigma on it, we pay them big dollars to see them play.

Just sayin' she is or is assumed to be really good at it - hence the high price of the 2 or 4 or however long session, why not obtain monetary benefit from it?

[skatesindreams]

This shouldn't have become a public matter.
It should have remained between Ms, Hamilton, her husband, and her doctor.

[AliasJohnDoe]

I personally never saw anything wrong with escorts/prostitution. It should be legal. It's her/his body and they should choose what they do with it.

I agree.... how come the people who pay for the escort service are never mentioned? How many Disney CEO's have used an escort service? More than we probably think.

[skatesindreams]

This shouldn't have become a public matter.
It should have remained between Ms, Hamilton, her husband, and her doctor.

[skatesindreams]

delete (glitch)