Through observations, winks and anecdotes, the Carnets de Paris immerse you in the heart of the Olympic Games.
Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman made history Wednesday by winning the country’s first women’s medal in her discipline. With a jump of 4.85 metres, she set a new national record.
Getting up after her jump, she rushed to run towards the crowd, feigning an injury to surprise the spectators by… “twerking”. The dance movement of Ivorian origin in which the pelvis is shaken is also seen by many women as a way of appropriating their bodies.
The video has been making the rounds on social media, with some wondering if it was just a celebratory dance or a way to boost her OnlyFans account. Since the start of the Games, various media outlets around the world have reported on certain Olympians who are present on the adult platform. Alysha Newman is one of them. “Whether I like it or not, I was sexualized in my sport by what I wear and how I look,” she told the tabloid Daily Mail in 2022. She instead chose to “control” what was done with her image and why not profit from it.
She also celebrated her bronze medal by thanking her subscribers on her account. “Thank you all for sharing this moment with me, I might bring you some souvenirs before I leave,” she said in a post with an image similar to what could be found on her other social platforms. Alysha Newman admits that her content is not as explicit as that of other influencers on OnlyFans.
But it does reignite the debate over athlete funding. British diver Jack Laugher, who receives £28,000 a year from the state, or nearly $50,000 Canadian, says he’s willing to pose in a skimpy swimsuit if it means he can make a little extra money. “I’ve got something people want and I’ll be happy to try and sell it,” he told the tabloid. Daily MailAlthough he considers himself to be making a good salary, his income as a professional diver is not comparable to that of other disciplines such as tennis or basketball.
Former Australian diving gold medalist Matthew Mitcham, who has also been on the OnlyFans platform for 18 months, explains that athletes work a lot on their physique. He wonders why it would be frowned upon to make this investment profitable, when the majority of athletes on this platform do not make pornographic content. “This is good additional income. After all the hours we have invested, the sacrifices we have made, we athletes deserve a supplementary income, even if it may seem out of the ordinary,” the diver expressed in an open letter published in The Telegraph end of July.
This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund-The duty.