Australian swimming great Grant Hackett has been found safe and well, hours after going missing.
It's reported that the three-time Olympic champion who has previously struggled with addiction issues, made contact with his mother and police.
His father Neville spoke of his relief after his son was found, but indicated he should go to rehab. He also claimed that his son had been spotted by members of the public who informed the police as to his whereabouts.
Hackett was arrested earlier this week in relation to a domestic incident at his father's home. Reporters in Australia say he was aggressive at the time of the arrest.
He was later released without charge, and posted a disturbing photo on his Instagram account showing cuts and bruises on his face.
A post shared by Grant Hackett (@grant__hackett) on
He captioned the photo as:
"My brother comments to the media... but does anyone know he beat the sh*t out of me. Everyone knows he is an angry man."
It has since emerged that that photo was taken after a separate incident in January.
Hackett has had a history of addiction problems since his first retirement after the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He later checked into a US rehabilitation clinic in 2014 shortly after he was filmed walking around in his underwear in a Melbourne casino.
He tried to relaunch his career for the Rio Games, but failed to qualify. It's understood he was involved in a drunken incident on the flight home from the Adelaide trials.
Throughout an otherwise successful career in swimming Hacket won the 1500m freestyle in both the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics as well as four world titles.
His father Neville says he is unsure as to when his son will return home:
"No idea. He's in hiding from everybody, including us. I think he's very, very embarrassed ... let’' see how things go."
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