It's been 17 years since Rebecca Adlington shot to fame at the Beijing Olympics. Aged just 19 at the time, the Mansfield swimmer won gold in both the 400-metre and 800-metre freestyles, breaking the world record in the final of the latter event. In doing so, she became the first woman to win swimming gold for Team GB in nearly 50 years, as well as the first British swimmer to win more than one gold medal at a single Olympics in a century. Adlington soon became a household name and went on to add Commonwealth, European and World Championship golds to her tally, as well as two bronze medals at the London Olympics in 2012. The following year, she retired from all competitive swimming at the age of just 23. However, she has gone on to have a successful career in punditry with the BBC, while she has also tried her hand at reality TV and starred on shows including I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Celebrity MasterChef and The Jump. But on a personal note, recent years have been difficult for Adlington, with the former Team GB star going through a divorce and two tragic miscarriages, before being diagnosed with a life-changing condition. Here's what you need to know. Split from husband and finding love again Adlington married her first husband Harry Needs in 2014, five years after they met as young professional swimmers. Less than a year later, they welcomed a daughter, Summer, together but the following year saw their marriage come to an "amicable" end after 18 months. In a statement shared on her website, the swimmer wrote: "It's after much thought and sadness that we confirm our separation. It is on amicable terms and we still remain close friends. "We move forward with respect for one another and our focus and commitment is on parenting our gorgeous daughter Summer." Four years later, Needs publicly came out as bisexual, explaining that he had "never had the time to explore his sexuality fully" before his marriage to Adlington. Admitting that this caused him to suffer with anxiety and depression, the personal trainer told GuysForYou: "I didn't say a thing. For me personally, my journey with Rebecca was a destination to love. "I think as an unconfident bisexual man it was extremely difficult back then to admit it even to myself, especially considering I had zero experience with the same sex. Once I knew I loved Rebecca, I was committed to that relationship and its journey for the rest of my life." Explaining how Adlington was very supportive of him after he came out to her a year after they separated, he added: "I never felt I deceived her, because I loved her and like I already said, I never had the time to discover my full sexuality." However, the former Olympic champion would find love again as she met facilities manager Andy Parsons on dating site Bumble. Revealing how their relationship started during an appearance on Loose Women, Adlington said: "I was like Oh God, I don't want to do online dating. I was just terrified by all my friends' stories. "I just got to the point where I thought that's how you meet people nowadays, it's very rare that you just bump into somebody and meet them." So, I was like 'Oh I'll give it a try to see how it goes' and literally I was on the app two weeks, matched Andy my partner and just hit it off. "I gave it another two weeks of chatting and then we met up and went out on a date and the rest is history." She dated Parsons for three years before they got married in 2021, welcoming son Albie the same year. Devastating miscarriages While Adlington has two children, she has also gone through two devastating miscarriages, with the first occurring in 2022. The miscarriage was discovered during a hospital visit for her 12-week scan, with the former swimmer requiring emergency surgery and treatment for sepsis. "It's such a devastating time but important in times like these we remember we aren't alone and have so much support," she told her Instagram followers at the time. "After a day of treating sepsis, a kidney infection and a fever, I'm slowly on the mend. Long way to go but I'm in the right place," However, there would be more heartbreak for Adlington and her husband a year later, as she suffered another miscarriage - this time at 20 weeks pregnant. Her daughter Harper was stillborn on October 2023, with the "truly heartbroken" couple releasing a statement saying they would "forever love her". "I don't really have the words right now but unfortunately we went for our 20-week scan this week and they found no heartbeat," Adlington wrote. "I gave birth to our angel, Harper, on Friday at 7pm. We held her, and had time with her. We will forever love her and remember her always. "I don't have the strength or words right now and don't feel ready to share this news. However, I can't pretend to be ok or fake a smile. I can't have people ask me how pregnancy is or when I am due as I still look pregnant. I don't have the strength to tell this news individually. "We are so truly heartbroken," she added. "Our beautiful girl. Rest in peace." Adlington later confessed that she "hated [her] body" in the wake of the tragedy and "couldn't help but blame herself", telling the Times: "It was very hard for me to accept. "I'm very logical so I wanted to find out why this had happened. But the post-mortem showed there was no reason; sometimes things just happen. I have to come to terms with that somehow and stop obsessing about it." Life-changing diagnosis Adlington recently won widespread praise after revealing that she has been diagnosed with coeliac disease. The Team GB icon opened up about her recent diagnosis in a video on Coeliac UK's Instagram page, urging her followers to support the cause for gluten-free prescriptions. The auto-immune condition sees your immune system attack your own tissues when you eat gluten, causing damage to the small intestine and causing symptoms including stomach pains, bloating, indigestion, constipation, fatigue and diarrhoea. As a result, for those with the condition, avoiding gluten is crucial and having gluten-free prescriptions is "vital" to managing the condition. Making an appeal to followers to sign a petiton to avoid these prescriptions being cut, Adlington said: "Hello everyone. As someone newly diagnosed with coeliac disease, I have definitely quickly learnt how vital gluten-free prescriptions are for managing this condition. "But in some areas, these prescriptions are totally being cut. Coeliac UK is handing a petition to Number 10 to make sure we're heard, so please sign and share the petition today." The petition received a remarkable 22,826 signatures and was delivered to Downing Street earlier this month.