- British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals was suspended in April by Paddle UK
- He said he set up the OnlyFans account to help fund his training programme
- Paddle UK refused to clarify the nature of ‘allegations’ that saw him suspended
A British canoeist who is hoping to be selected by Team GB for the Olympics will be forced to choose between the sport and posting on OnlyFans.
Kurts Adams Rozentals, who competes in the individual canoe slalom, was suspended in April by the sport’s governing body Paddle UK following ‘allegations’ over the contents of his social media posts.
Paddle UK subsequently removed Rozentals from their World Class Programme, a loterry-funded initiative run by UK Sport, pending an investigation into the matter.
Paddle UK have refused to clarify the nature of the allegations, but Rozentals believes they are related to his posting on adult content site OnlyFans.
The organisation’s Athlete Disciplinary Policy lists ‘offensive use of social media’ and ‘indecent, offensive or immoral behaviour’ as examples of gross misconduct – which they warn could result in being deselected from the programme.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Rozentals said: ‘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’.
Kurts Adams Rozentals, who competes in the individual canoe slalom, was banned in April
He suspects he has been banned by governing body Paddle UK for posting OnlyFans content
His posts have been liked more than 10,000 times on the site, which is notorious for the nature of its adult content
Rozentals has more than 10,000 ‘likes’, having posted 39 videos and over 100 photos on the platform.
The Team GB hopeful also revealed that he has earned more than £100,000 since creating the account in January.
He shared the circumstances of his suspension, which saw him received a call from a Paddle UK representative last month, who informed him that he was suspended from competing and could no longer contact staff or athletes on the programme.
The Team GB hopeful added: ‘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.
‘My personality at this point, my identity, is sport and I want to be a professional athlete chasing my Olympic dream.’
Rozentals said he set up the account to help fund his training programme – as he pointed to the initiative’s annual grant of £16,000 being insufficient.
He remarked: ‘I don’t know how much you need but it’s certainly not £16,000.
‘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.’
Rozentals won an individual C1 silver medal at the World Under-23 Championships Canoeing Championships in 2023
But he faces an anxious wait to see if he can continue competing in the sport
Rozentals won an individual C1 silver medal at the World Under-23 Championships in 2023 but faces an anxious wait over whether he can continue the path to an Olympic dream pending the outcome of the investigation.
Paddle UK described Rozentals’ ban as ‘interim action’ and a ‘neutral act designed to protect all parties [and] safeguard other athletes, staff, and volunteers due to the nature of the allegation’.
It added: ‘The investigation has been referred to independent investigation service Sport Integrity’.
‘Paddle UK is committed to ensuring a safe and open environment for all, and interim action under the Athlete Disciplinary Policy is only taken where necessary and proportionate.’
