Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett has admitted to entering a rehab facility after being filmed running around Melbourne’s Crown Casino in February.

Previously coy on the subject of whether he was in the US for treatment, Hackett opened up to Channel Nine, saying he is “proud” of his decision to enter a US rehab facility for a “sleeping disorder”.

“I’ve just been exhausted over a long duration and to actually get over here and to have a bit of peace and quiet – to be able to focus on myself and get into a really good head space,” Hackett said.

“I’ve lived – I guess when you look back on it – quite a stressful life from quite a young age. Emotionally, if you don’t deal with [those issues] – and to be honest, I’m not too good at that – because as an athlete you’re always trying to overcome adversity and the next challenge and it just gets to a situation in life where you’re not coping too well and you need to put your hand up and ask for help,” Hackett said.

His parents visited him at treatment centre – where he had a “confronting week”.

“It was good to sit down with them and talk about a lot of things… our history,” Hackett said.

Hackett’s father had revealed in February that his son was the subject of a family intervention and was in “a little bit of denial”.

Grant Hackett said he now hopes to focus on being a “good father.”