Australian former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis said on Tuesday he loved his wife and never wanted to hurt her in his first public comments since receiving a suspended sentence over her death.
Dennis, an Olympic medallist in 2012 and 2021, avoided jail last year for driving in a way "likely to cause harm" before his car struck and killed his fellow Olympian wife Melissa Hoskins in 2023.
He instead received a nearly 17-month suspended sentence given his guilty plea to an "aggravated act likely to cause harm", his remorse and role as sole carer of their young children.
"Yes it was an accident," Dennis said in a lengthy statement on social media that lashed out at his treatment by the media.
"I loved Melissa and the last thing I ever wanted was to hurt her.
"Never in my life has any physical aggression crossed my mind in any disagreement with Melissa."
A court heard the incident happened after the couple had an argument over house renovations.
Dennis drove off to calm down but Hoskins jumped onto the car bonnet.
He carried on slowly driving for up to 10 seconds, the court heard, before Hoskins opened the door to the moving car, tripped and was dragged underneath.
Dennis slammed media allegations that suggested he was a "husband who abused his wife" and journalists' "pathetic" pursuit of him and his children for "cheap clicks".
"I have ALWAYS been against any sort of abuse against women and especially the one who gave birth to my children," he wrote.
"Time for all you so-called journalists and media outlets to back off and leave my family alone."
Dennis won the world time trials in 2018 and 2019, as well as taking a 2015 stage win in the Tour de France.
He was a team pursuit silver medallist at the 2012 London Olympics and a time-trial bronze medallist at the Covid-hit 2021 Games in Tokyo.
Track cyclist Hoskins represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, but did not win a medal.