Dire financial straits are leading droves of Olympic athletes to sell images of their bodies to subscribers on OnlyFans — known for sexually explicit content — to sustain their dreams of gold at the Games. As they struggle to make ends meet, a spotlight is being cast on an Olympics funding system that watchdog groups condemn as “broken,” claiming most athletes “can barely pay their rent.”
The Olympics, the world’s biggest sporting stage, bring in billions of dollars in TV rights, ticket sales and sponsorship, but most athletes must fend for themselves financially.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not express concern about the situation. When asked by The Associated Press about athletes turning to OnlyFans, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, “I would assume that athletes, like all citizens, are allowed to do what they can.”
Watching his sponsorships dry up and facing mounting costs, Jack Laugher was among the pantheon of Olympic athletes using the often-controversial platform to get to the Games — or simply survive.
If you can imagine the ancient Olympics with all those naked male athletes running and flexing, the sex trade would have been happening back then too.
Lots of consensual sex happens in modern Olympic villages today, because just healthy young people getting together.
I thought the point being made here is that they should be making enough money to not have to resort to Only fans.
What does whether they’re getting it on in camp or not have to do with this article?
I reckon that it is to fund their own training when their government is too corrupt and uncaring to support them. Us in the West take for granted that the government provide support to train prospective athletes; but it’s not so much in developing countries. The Philippines’ first ever Olympic gold medallist- Hydeline Diaz- won two years ago in Tokyo. But prior to that, she begged and implored to both the public and the government to provide financial support her aspirations to compete in the Olympics but she was shunned. It was only after she won gold, unexpectedly, that everyone tried to rub their shoulders with her to play as sycophants. This year, Filipino politicians and business elites have also been brown nosing themselves to Carlos Yulo after winning two gold medals.
Maybe for developing countries, it’s better to fund 1000 teachers instead of 1000 Olympic hopefuls
If the latter is even being seriously done by governments of those countries, then that’s a start!
Problem is that people in the Olympics aren’t supposed to be professional athletes. IOW they can’t make any money off their skills. I think the Olympic rules have sought to reinforce that not because they really don’t want paid athletes, just that they want everyone surrounding the Olympic entertainment industry to get paid instead. Networks, venues, vendors, etc.
Isn’t it up to the athletes then to not participate and boycott the olympics until they treat their talent better?
They should unionize.
I think people are forgetting something, which is that younger people like clout. OnlyFans isn’t really that taboo for a lot of younger people. It’s associated with being hot and making money. A lot of Olympians probably WANTED their OnlyFans to pop off because they thought it was cool. And they don’t have to show full nudes or sex, many just post in swimsuits, softcore porn, or tasteful covered nudes. Being “forced” to do OnlyFans is a bit of a stretch for some athletes, but I agree that the games in general are exploiting the athletes. I think the games themselves could be considered a type of sex work, though.
It is amazing how sex work specifically makes people hate capitalism. People don’t mind a capitalist, but as soon as that capitalist is a pimp or madame, then they can see the immorality
Cause sex work allows social mobility. The feudalistic lords also hated merchants cause they threatened the social hierarchy.
100%! Sex work is inherently empowering and destroys typical power dynamics in cishet monogamous relationships.
*extremely healthy in peak physical condition riding high on adrenaline.