// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
'I was addicted to porn while training for the Olympics'
Freddie Woodward said he sometimes watched online porn multiple times a day
A former Team GB diver said he was left feeling "dirty" after he became hooked on online pornography as a child.
Freddie Woodward, who competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, said at the height of his addiction he sometimes visited adult websites multiple times a day.
Today, the 30-year-old, from Sheffield, is calling for better education around porn addiction - which is not "shame-based, but honest and evidence-led". He said he hoped speaking out would encourage others to seek help.
In June, the government said tech companies like Apple and Google must install software to prevent children from taking, sending or viewing sexually explicit images on their phones and other devices.
Woodward said his diving career was mapped out from the age of seven, when talent-spotters from City of Sheffield Diving Club visited his primary school in Millhouses.
"I couldn't kick a football to save my life, so it seemed a really good fit. I took to it immediately," he said.
By secondary school, Woodward, who grew up in Eccleshall, was competing internationally and training 20 hours a week in the pool and gym at Ponds Forge Sports Centre.
He said it was around this time that he discovered internet porn. By the age of 12, was regularly viewing what he describes as "hardcore" sites.
"I'm the first generation to have had access to high-speed internet porn.