In a recent interview with GQ, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic discussed a variety of topics, but one comment stood out above the rest.
“I had some health issues. And I realized that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed with some food that poisoned me, I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was, I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury.” claimed Djokovic.
Serious Claims From Djokovic
Djokovic’s detainment happened in January 2022 and this is quite a serious claim from the former world No.1. Stating that a foreign government intentionally or unintentionally tried to poison him is quite a huge accusation to make. Djokovic’s claim that he was poisoned by food provided during his detention adds a disturbing dimension to an already controversial episode. The Serb also talked about the restrictions he faced during the detention.
“I had a paper with like a hundred items: from toothbrush, toothpaste, water, food, whatever. And I had to choose, tick certain boxes, and each of these items carried a certain amount of points, and I had 60 points in total of what I was allowed to receive. So I did that 59 or 60 points, and I gave it to them. Twenty minutes later I come back and they say, we made a mistake, you don’t have 60, you have 30. So I was like, you must be kidding me.” said Djokovic. The sudden change in his allowance highlights potential mismanagement.
When asked whether he felt sick when returning to Europe, Djokovic said: “Yeah, very sick. It was like the flu, just a simple flu. But when it was days after that a simple flu took me down so much, I had that several times and then I had to do toxicology [tests].”
These are all eyebrow-raising statements from Djokovic. But it’s not fully clear whether he was poisoned intentionally or unintentionally by food. It could also have been a case of the hotel paint or something with a contaminant, which may have increased the metal levels. The situation would have been highly stressful for him, and that probably was enough to convince him of sabotage. Whatever the ultimate truth is, this new revelation may reignite conversations ahead of the 2025 Australian Open.
Main Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran – USA TODAY Sports
