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.
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!