Slovak five-time European champion sleeps on concrete, becomes homeless...

Once celebrated by the crowds, today he recognizes only the hardness of the street. We are talking about Adam Cibul, Slovak bodybuilding legend and five-time European champion. His fall to rock bottom is not news, but even after a year nothing has changed in his tragic fate. The story of the man who traded medals for food continues.

A year ago, Slovak media reported that one of the most successful bodybuilders in Slovak history was living as a homeless man. He had long ago pawned his valuable championship metals to make a basic living.

Now time seems to have stopped for him. A new video and a report by cas.sk confirm the worst. The 60-year-old Onion is still homeless.

"We are outside, I slept on concrete, I don't know what will happen in winter," he says in the video in a broken voice.

But by his side faithfully stands his partner, who is his only support.

"Even if we're on the street, I'll never give it up, even if we're going through hell itself," he declares with determination as she sits next to him on a park bench.

How could an athlete who finished fifth at the 2011 World Championships find himself in such a situation? The answer lies in the demons he has battled throughout his career - alcohol and indiscipline in particular. The story of 1996, when he was supposed to fly to Jordan for the World Championships as the reigning champion, is legendary. Instead, he ended up in a station cafeteria with his friends and never made it to the airport.

It was his problems with alcohol and mounting debts that repeatedly deprived him of a roof over his head. At one point, he and his family even built a makeshift shack out of dirt and wood in a Roma settlement.

His daily reality is harsh.

"I walk around town, sometimes people give me one or two euros for food, and then I look for a place to sleep," he described a year ago.

According to his partner, nothing has changed:

"When I'm away, he has to beg to survive. I keep him afloat, he keeps me afloat."

Adam Cibuľa has known peak glory and absolute rock bottom. His story is a chilling reminder of how thin the line is between success and failure.

Image source: zivot.pluska.sk