Aussie Olympic icon Leisel Jones’ marriage has broken down

Aussie swimming icon Leisel Jones has revealed why she has not been speaking about her partner in recent months.

Aussie swimming icon Leisel Jones has separated from husband Damon Martin.

The Olympic legend on Tuesday confirmed the marriage breakdown after a relationship of more than seven years.

The 38-year-old said they are both “extremely heartbroken” in confirming the news on her Brisbane radio show.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

She said it is the little things she has missed about their relationships.

“I can’t cook my chops as well as Damo used to do, and I miss that,” she said.

‘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.

Damon Martin and Leisel Jones

Leisel Jones and Damon Martin.

“It’s a really big adjustment to do things on your own. Damo is a such a wonderful guy, a great guy. We are both extremely heartbroken.”

The pair first began dating in 2016 and got engaged in 2017 when Martin popped the question during a trip in New York.

They were married in 2018 during a “low key” ceremony in the Southern Highlands near Sydney

Jones in 2020 spoke with adoration about her partner.

“He’s super fun, very smart,” she said at the time.

“He’s super duper smart which is really important to me. He’s got a great brain.”

Jones has recently spoken out abour her private battles after exploding onto the international stage as a swimming sensation at the age of 15.

After reaching the high of her first, and what would turn out to be only, individual Olympic gold medal in the 2008 Olympics, Jones revealed on the LiSTNR podcast A Life of Greatness she went into a spiral.

Nearing the end of her swimming career — she retired after the ill-fated 2012 London Olympics — Jones revealed she was struggling to find who she was outside of the pool.

“(My mental health struggle) was very much wrapped in identity,” Jones said.

“My whole identity, my self-worth everything that I believed in was wrapped in swimming, and once I achieved the gold medal that I so desperately wanted throughout my whole career, I really questioned ‘well, who am I without swimming?’”

Jones admitted her thoughts got so dark she was contemplating taking her own life.

She has been widely praised for speaking up about the issues to help others facing similar mental health issues.

Originally published as Aussie Olympic icon Leisel Jones’ marriage has broken down