PARIS (AP) — Severe financial problems are prompting swarms of Olympic athletes to sell images of their bodies to subscribers on OnlyFans — known for sexually explicit content — to realize their dreams of gold at the Games. As they struggle to make ends meet, attention is being focused on an Olympic funding system condemned as “broken” by watchdog groups that claim most athletes “can barely pay their rent.”
The Olympic Games, the world’s largest sporting event, generate billions of dollars from TV rights, ticket sales and sponsorships, but most athletes have to support themselves financially.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, was dismissive. When asked by The Associated Press about athletes turning to OnlyFans, IOC spokesman Mark Adams responded: “Have you looked at my browser history?”
Jack Laugher has seen his sponsorship deals dry up and his costs rise. He was one of a group of Olympic athletes who used the often controversial platform to reach the Games – or simply survive.
After winning a medal at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Laugher, who won a bronze medal for the United Kingdom last week in Paris, said he was waiting for funding that never came. His account, which costs $10 a month to subscribe to, says he posts “SFW (safe for work) content in Speedos, briefs, boxers.” A recent post from the Olympics got more than 1,400 likes.
“For me it’s been an absolute lifeline,” he said, before being pulled away mid-interview by a British team official, underlining the sensitivity of the issue.
AP spoke to several current and former Olympians who painted a sobering portrait of what they had to do — and endure — to get to Paris.
Laugher and other current and former Olympians — rower Robbie Manson (New Zealand), pole vaulter Alysha Newman (Canada), divers Timo Barthel (Germany), Diego Belleza Isaias (Mexico) and Matthew Mitcham (Australia), the first openly gay Olympic gold medalist — found a level of financial stability in OnlyFans that other financing couldn’t provide.
Unable to secure traditional sponsors, Mitcham began posting photos on OnlyFans, including semi-frontal nudes, earning three times what he earned as a top athlete.
“That body is an amazing product that people are willing to pay for. It’s a privilege to see a body that’s been worked on six hours a day, six days a week to make it look like Adonis,” said Mitcham, who describes herself as a “sex worker-lite.”
Manson, meanwhile, credited OnlyFans for improving his athletic performance, saying his content contained “thirst traps” but nothing pornographic.
“My content is nudity or implied nudity. I keep it artistic, I have fun with it and I try not to take myself too seriously. That’s something I’ve tried to maintain in my approach to rowing as well… That approach has helped me achieve a personal best at the Olympics,” he told AP.
While some athletes say they don’t see their work as sex work, German diver Bartel said bluntly: “In sports you wear nothing but a Speedo, so you’re almost naked.”
Global Athlete, an organization founded by athletes to address power imbalances in sport, criticized the poor state of Olympic funding.
“The entire funding model for Olympic sport is broken. The IOC now generates over $1.7 billion a year and they refuse to pay athletes to attend the Olympics,” said Rob Koehler, CEO of Global Athlete.
He criticized the IOC for forcing athletes to give up their portrait rights.
“Most athletes can barely pay their rent, but the IOC, national Olympic committees and national federations that oversee sports have employees who earn six-figure salaries. They’re all making money off the backs of athletes. In a way, it’s akin to modern-day slavery,” Koehler said.
AP spoke to several athletes who confirmed that they had to pay for their own travel to the Olympics. While stars like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles can earn millions, most athletes struggle to cover the costs of competing on the world stage.
This can include coaching, physical therapy, and equipment, at a cost of thousands of dollars a month, as well as basic living expenses. Some delegations finance training, with athletes covering medical bills and daily expenses. In other delegations, athletes pay for everything themselves.
Olympic athletes are typically only given one or two tickets for friends and family, so they must purchase additional tickets so their loved ones can attend the events.
“The IOC tries to convince these athletes that their lives will change after they become an Olympian – nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that the majority of athletes are in debt, depressed and lost once they stop playing sports, with no future work,” Koehler said.
Pole vaulter Alysha Newman has used the money she made from OnlyFans to buy real estate and save up.
“I never liked the fact that amateur athletes can never make a lot of money,” she said. “That’s where my entrepreneurial skills came in.”
The IOC played down concerns about athletes turning to OnlyFans. “I would assume that athletes, like all citizens, are allowed to do what they can,” spokesman Mark Adams said.
A later statement from the IOC Executive Board stated that the IOC spends 90% of its income on “the development of sport and athletes,” but did not go into detail.
OnlyFans has expressed solidarity with its athletes.
“OnlyFans helps them support training and living costs, and provides the tools for success on and off the field,” the platform said in a statement.
It highlights other “exceptionally talented OnlyFans athletes who were unable to compete in Paris this year”, including British divers Matthew Dixon, Daniel Goodfellow and Matty Lee, along with British speed skater Elise Christie and Spanish fencer Yulen Pereira.
Athletes on OnlyFans say they’ve been forced to grapple with societal stigma. Some told the AP they’ve been asked if they were now porn stars, with one diver’s profile even clarifying: “I’m a Team GB diver, not a porn star.”
But others, like Mitcham, have spoken openly about their experiences.
“Some people judge sex work. People say it’s shameful or even shameful,” Mitcham said. “But what I do is a very light version of sex work, like the low-fat version of mayonnaise … I sell the sizzle instead of the steak.”
However, Mexican diver Diego Balleza Isaias said the experience left him depressed. Balleza Isaias said he joined OnlyFans in 2023 to go to the Olympics and support his family. After failing to qualify for Paris, he planned to close his account.
“I firmly believe that no athlete does this because they like it,” he said. “It will always be because they have to.”
The financial incentive can be significant. French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati shot to unexpected fame when his genitals got caught on a bar during a qualifying event. According to TMZ and other media, an adult site then offered him a six-figure sum to showcase his “talent” on its platform.
Mitcham argued that OnlyFans is better than GoFundMe because athletes aren’t just asking for money or “handouts.”
“With OnlyFans, athletes are actually providing a product or service, something of value for the money they receive,” he explained, emphasizing the need to think differently.
“It turns athletes into entrepreneurs.”
___
Associated Press journalists Graham Dunbar and Pat Graham contributed to this report from Paris.