Aussie swimming icon Leisel Jones is one of the most successful Australian female swimmers of all time. She was the first Aussie swimmer to compete at four Olympic Games and had a remarkable career, winning nine Olympic medals.
Her successes are what earned her the nickname Lethal Leisel and the rightful place in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame which she was inducted in 2015.
But what happened to Jones after her last Olympic Games in London in 2012?
How old was Leisel Jones at her first Olympics?
Jones was just 14 years old when she won the 100m breaststroke event at the Australian Championship in Sydney in 2000 and joined the Australian team.
She then made her debut at the Sydney Games at just 15 years old. That same year, Jones left school to focus on her swimming career – this proved a smart decision after she won the 100m breaststroke Olympic silver in Sydney.
What is Leisel Jones doing now?
Now 38, Leisel is still regarded as one of the most popular sporting figures in Australia and has now established herself as an exceptional media talent.
Leisel actively supports mental health and positive body image and acts as a vocal advocate for these causes. In an effort to amplify these causes, Jones has partnered with organisations she feels passionately about such as Beyond Blue.
Since retirement, the Olympian has also hosted Channel Ten’s coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and served as a swimming expert commentator for Channel Seven during the Tokyo Olympic Games.
On top of this, Jones also released a memoir in 2015 titled Body Lengths and has her own radio show on Triple M with Ben Dobbin and Liam Flanagan. You can purchase her book through Amazon.
Who is Leisel Jones’ husband?
Jones was married to Damon Martin for five years before they separated in 2023. The pair first began dating in 2018 and got engaged the following year when Martin popped the question during a trip to New York.
In 2018, Jones and Martin tied the knot in a low-key ceremony in the Southern Highlands near Sydney.
Unfortunately, the two later separated, announcing the news on her Brisbane radio show in November 2023. “We have separated. It’s incredibly sad news,” she said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour With Leisel Jones, Liam & Dobbo.
“I have the deepest respect for Damo. It’s a very sad situation for both of us and a very hard decision to come to. So it is a very sad announcement, and I’m out in the wilderness on my own. I’m actually OK. We had done a lot of work beforehand, we put a lot of effort in.
“I’m conscious I am 38, I am now single, and I don’t have any children and I might have missed that window, so that’s a little frightening.”
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