- Harry Garside has opened up on his domestic violence ordeal
- Australian boxer was falsely accused of domestic violence
- He says training for the Olympics helped him through it
Harry Garside has reflected on his domestic violence court case ordeal, revealing that boxing helped provide clarity during that turbulent spell.
Garside, 26, was arrested by NSW Police in dramatic scenes at Sydney Airport as he returned home with his father after shooting the reality TV show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in South Africa earlier this year.
Police dropped the charges against the 26-year-old in a Sydney court after his legal team produced video evidence they said showed his ex-girlfriend, Ashley Ruscoe, was the alleged aggressor during an incident on March 1.
Garside had steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal, but admitted it was a testing time.
'I've got sweaty palms right now,' he joked when asked about the criminal proceedings on The Project.
Harry Garside has opened up on his court case ordeal
The boxer, 26, was falsely accused of domestic violence against former partner Ash Ruscoe
Garside was cleared and said boxing helped him maintain his focus
'It was tough, there's no denying that. I think it was very therapeutic to... I sort of distracted myself with the Olympics to get through that, to disconnect from it, which I think I needed to [do].'
Garside has authored a new book inbetween training sessions for the Paris Games, and says that the exercise allowed him to compute everything.
'I think to sit down and actually go over it and [say] "what happened?" I sort of numbed it out as much as I could.
I't was exactly what I needed to make sure I could get through it and focus on the Olympic gold medal.'
Reflecting on his preparations for Paris, Garside said: 'Really well. It's 50 days today from my Olympic final date, August 7, which is amazing. I am so pumped.'
Ms Ruscoe, 35, was arrested at her Bellevue Hill home in July and charged with assaulting and intimidating her former partner, Mr Garside.
Months later, Ruscoe - who works as a boxing coach and wellness guru - was subsequently charged with two counts of intentionally distributing intimate images without consent.
