Klass Francisks Rozentals says he has left Team GB and will now compete for Latvia after launching an adults-only subscription page on OF to help fund his sporting career.
The 20-year-old’s decision comes after his older brother, Kurts Adams Rozentals, was suspended by Paddle UK last year over what he believed was his explicit online content.
Kurts said he had turned to the platform to support his training, revealing he made around $130,000 in just a few months, compared with the annual $21,000 grant he received from Paddle UK.
Now, Klass has followed a similar path, saying more conventional side hustles, such as bartending, made it nearly impossible to balance work with the demands of elite training.
Rather than risk a similar backlash from Paddle UK, Klass has chosen to step away from Team GB and represent Latvia instead, where his family is originally from.
Speaking on Instagram about athletes turning to adult content to fund their careers, he wrote: “This is happening to athletes right now. Forced to choose between financial stability or the Olympics.
“I started my page to fund my sports career after dedicating my life to it, but never received funding. But I received so much backlash…”
He added that the cost of chasing Olympic qualification in canoe slalom is enormous.
“For a canoe slalom athlete chasing the Olympics, one four-year cycle is roughly £100,000 to £180,000 in total costs.
“I tried bartending and construction work, but never had the time to train to compete.”
Klass said the platform has now made it possible for him to properly pursue his goals, even if that comes with uncertainty.
“I can finally afford my dream. But knowing it could be taken away at any time because of how I find it sucks.
“Two choices – either normalise paying athletes reasonable salaries. Or normalise them funding themselves through whatever means necessary.”
Athletes and adult content
Athletes turning to adult content to bankroll their sporting ambitions is far from a new phenomenon.
Divers, including Jack Laugher, Noah Williams and Matty Lee, have all launched OF pages in the past, while continuing to compete.
They were not barred from their sports, however.
Kurts’ case is said to have been different because of the more explicit nature of his content. According to Outsports, one video showed him performing a sexual act on a plane, which was later found to have brought the sport into “serious disrepute”.
Speaking to the BBC in October last year, Kurts said: “This ban would have never happened if athletes were funded properly.”
