British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals claims he has been told to choose between his Olympic aspirations and his OnlyFans account after being suspended amid “allegations” concerning his social media activity.
Rozentals, who specialises in the individual canoe slalom, has been barred from competition since April and ousted from Paddle UK’s World Class Programme – a lottery-funded scheme by UK Sport aimed at supporting athletes’ Olympic journeys – as an investigation is underway.
In a separate incident, former Olympian Mary Lou Retton faced arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, according to online court documents. Elsewhere, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reiterated its stance on banning Russian teams from the 2026 Winter Olympics, quashing NHL icon Alex Ovechkin’s dreams of participating in his fourth Olympic Games.
Paddle UK, the national governing body for canoeing, kayaking, and related paddlesports in the UK, has remained tight-lipped about the specific allegations tied to Rozentals’ social media post.
Nonetheless, the athlete suspects that the controversy stems from his activities on the internet content subscription service OnlyFans, which is notorious for its adult material.
On OnlyFans, Rozentals boasts over 10,000 ‘likes’, with a collection of more than 100 photos and 39 videos, amassing earnings exceeding £100,000 ($134,963) since he set up his account in January.
“I have been posting videos (on Instagram) that are consciously made to be edgy in order to drive conversions to my ‘spicy content page’ (on OnlyFans), to fund this ultimate dream of going to the Olympics,” Rozentals shared with BBC Sport.
Describing the moment he received a call from a Paddle UK official last month informing him of his suspension, he confessed: “I kind of froze and I couldn’t believe the words I was hearing because this is what I put my life into. This is everything I do.”
Rozentals created his OnlyFans account as a means to subsidise his rigorous training regime. Though athletes receive an annual £16,000 grant from Paddle UK for training support, Rozentals insists it’s simply not sufficient.
“When you have to cover rent, travel, food… and most athletes who train full-time are all living in London. They’re very fortunate to have parent backing – I wasn’t. I never had the ability to move to London because of financial struggles so I was always doing the travel from the East Midlands, where I live, to London, back-and-forth, back-and-forth.”
When questioned about whether he would cease posting on OnlyFans to maintain his position in the programme, Rozentals admitted it was the toughest decision he’s ever faced, but he feels one shouldn’t have to pick between their financial stability and their Olympic aspirations.
He stated: “This is the hardest decision that I’ve ever faced in my life. It’s a tough decision but unless something changes in the way athletes are paid I don’t see a way of working with Paddle UK”.
A version of this article was first published on the Irish Star website
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