Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins could lose his Olympic gold medals after being declared bankrupt.
The five-times gold medalist, who was also the first Briton to win Le Tour, was declared bankrupt by Lancaster county court on June 3, per The Times. The 44-year-old had previously been placed in an Individual Voluntary Arrangement in 2022, in a bid to help pay off creditors. The former cyclist's debts are said to have grown to almost £1million however, with one liquidator suggesting in November that the company was owed £760,000.
Late last year it was reported Wiggins had been issued with a 'notice of breach' of his IVA. A report into the matter suggested bankruptcy could follow. It read: "In the event the IVA is terminated the director may become subject to bankruptcy proceedings and this would potentially substantially increase the expected timeframe for recovery of the outstanding directors loan account."
Trustees are now set to be appointed to seize and dispose of Wiggins' assets. This could include medals in the manner former tennis star Boris Becker was required to hand over his Wimbledon trophies becoming bankrupt in in 2022.
Paul Rouse, head of client services at the accountancy firm Forvis Mazars, explained to The Times: “Sir Bradley Wiggins is a British sporting icon, and for him to find himself in this financial position, a decade on from his peak, will be an extremely distressing fall from grace.
“A bankruptcy trustee will be appointed to seize and sell his assets, potentially including medals and trophies of his successful sporting past, as was the case with Boris Becker recently.
“As you would expect, those involved in elite sport are often focussed solely on their primary goals of winning titles and striving for sporting excellence.
“Professionals will surround them to advise on the financial benefits that follow that success, and they would be wise to ensure that their chosen advisors are trustworthy, and that they are safeguarding their client’s long-term position”.
Wiggins has seen a series of difficulties in business ventures since his 2016 retirement. The ex-Sky rider saw his professional development cycling group, Team Wiggins enter liquidation in September 2020 before going defunct.
Wiggins Rights Limited, which owns the trademarks to Bradley Wiggins, Wiggo and Wiggins, saw debts of £650,000 when entering liquidation in 2020. HM Revenue & Customs were among the creditors owed and they calimed in 2023 to be due a sum of £313,447.
At that time, a spokesman said: "Bradley’s involvement in the companies was not day to day," and that "this in no way affects Bradley’s personal solvency".
The Dolphinholme resident previously admitted to Cycling Weekly that his financial struggles had covered a number of years with 'no apparent end in sight'. Wiggins described the financial difficulties as “a very historical matter that involves professional negligence from [others] that has left a s***pile with my name at the front of it to deal with.
“Happens to a lot of sportsmen while they’re doing the grafting and on that there’ll be a number of legal claims from my lawyers left, right and centre as a result.”