Champion jockey Sonja Logan, 33, has transformed herself into a bodybuilder after a violent car-jacking outside her Darwin home left her with severe facial injuries. The attack occurred two years ago when a group of men threw a brick through her car window and smashed her face with a rock, breaking her nose in three places and damaging her teeth just weeks before her wedding.
Logan, who has 533 career wins, told Mirror Racing: 'They smashed my face in with a rock but also put a concrete slab through one of my windows. It wasn’t fun.' The men fled when an alarm was raised and have never been caught. Police failed to attend the scene and only arrived at hospital four hours later.
Following the attack, Logan struggled with anxiety and turned to alcohol, drinking up to six beers at the stables and more at home. 'I went into this dark place of drinking and pretending everything was perfect,' she said. 'It was a pretty rough eight or nine months.' Despite this, she continued riding and won the Alice Spring premiership in the most recent season.
Logan entered a six-week bodybuilding challenge offering A$2,000 (around £1,000) and stopped drinking midway. She changed her diet, dropping from 56kg to 51kg, and fell in love with the training. A year later she competed in her first bodybuilding event, making the podium in three of four competitions. 'Mentally I feel tenfold stronger,' she said. 'I literally feel like I could take on the world.'
Logan credits the gym with helping her overcome her trauma, noting that the strength and fitness have improved her balance for riding. She hopes her story inspires others struggling with mental health issues in high-pressure sports.
