This Disgraceful Sport Scandal Will Shock You

The IOC raked in a staggering $7.6 billion in the 4 year cycle between Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2021), over 90% of that purely from broadcasting rights and sponsorships alone, yet refuses to pay their athletes a dime. No prize money. No appearance fee. Nothing. Whereas federations such as the NBA and NFL dedicate up to 50% of their revenue towards paying their athletes. The people who, without whom, there would be nothing to build a federation around at all. If the IOC chose to put forward just 10% of their revenue towards all athletes, each individual would receive over $67,000!

On top of this, unpaid volunteers effectively make the games possible; Paris 2024 saw a 45,000-strong group of individuals working, and in return earning nothing more than a cheap uniform and minor travel expenses.

The wiliness of the IOC’s account records speak volumes alone; “cultural and heritage costs” $40 million, “IOC operations” $54.5 million, “special projects” $46 million. These strategically vague records arouse suspicion that perhaps a large sum of the revenues are really just kept by those at the very top, rendering the athletes completely and utterly exploited.

It’s tragic how many of these world class athletes cannot stand on financial stability. While countries like Hong Kong pay gold medallists up to $768,000, the US, a country that is synonymous with Olympic greatness, offers just $38,000—the lowest being Australia, at a mere $13,000. And even these pay-outs are only for those that actually win a medal, let alone those that just about miss out, and anyhow barely cover the $25,000–$40,000 yearly cost of elite training, especially in sports like swimming.

It appears that the only well-funded in countries such as the US are those that received scholarships with unlimited access to world class facilities and coaches, or those with involved with corporate sponsors—Simone Biles, American gymnast, in her prime made $5 million in endorsements. Unfortunately, if you’re not involved in one of the more popular sports or don’t have a prevalent social media presence then the chances of securing valuable sponsorship is slim to none.

To add salt to the wounds, EVEN IF a lesser known athlete is able to receive a small local sponsor, they can’t even promote their own sponsors at the Olympic Games, due to a rule that restricts all unofficial Olympic sponsors from being mentioned at all!

As a result of the blatant lack of funding and support, it is in fact the norm that standard Olympic athletes work part and full time jobs on top of their elite-level training, just to keep them afloat. One example of many includes American female boxer Morelle McCane, who had to work multiple flexible part time jobs, including as a birthday party clown, a day-care supervisor, and a mailroom worker, just to fund her training and travel.

On top of this, the IOC actually funded a “Day in the Life” docu-series covering the individual lives of many athletes working jobs as prestigious as professors, fire fighters and engineers, highlighting the struggle they go through and bringing awareness to it; they funded this rather than just help pay and support the athletes themselves. To add EVEN MORE fuel to this fire, predictably the revenue stream from the broadcasting of this series alone could well have raked in enough money to pay and support these athletes. It’s genuinely almost as if the IOC are framing their ignorance as blatantly as possible.

Enjoying this article so far? This topic was brought to our attention through this video linked below, and would highly recommend it to you for further detail and case studies within the Exploitation of Olympians.

For a growing number of Olympic athletes, financial desperation has driven them from the world stage to subscription-based platforms like OnlyFans. Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman, who didn’t even make the finals at Rio 2016, now earns more through adult content than most Olympic champions will in a lifetime. With 45,000 subscribers paying $30 each, Newman reportedly made $1.3 million in just 45 minutes, and after celebrating at Paris 2024 with a twerk that many called "an embarrassment" and "a disgrace to her country," her subscriber base reportedly increased tenfold, pushing her earnings to an estimated $5 million. As the demands of her audience intensified, what began with innocent intentions reportedly gave way to more explicit content.

She’s not alone. Jack Laugher, a British gold medallist in diving, turned to OnlyFans after struggling financially, posting shirtless content “no more revealing than what I wear in competition,” he said. His move was met with support, but also underscored the absurdity of a system where Olympic champions can’t make ends meet. Mexican diver Diego Isaias started his own account to support himself and his mother after Mexico’s Sports Commission stopped monthly payments, despite athletes training up to 8 hours a day. “I felt broken,” he later admitted, after failing to qualify for Paris and contemplating shutting down his account.

In a particularly surreal example, a French pole vaulter who failed a jump due to a bar clipping his crotch received a $250,000 offer from an adult site for a livestream. The company’s VP wrote: “If it was up to me, I’d award you for what everyone saw—your talent below the belt. As a lover of crotch-centric activities, I’d love to offer you $250,000 for a 60-minute webcam show… minus the crossbar, of course.”

These aren’t isolated stories—they’re symptoms of a systemic failure. When working multiple jobs or turning to adult platforms becomes the only way Olympians can fund their careers, we must ask: what are we really rewarding? As Newman herself hinted, most athletes wouldn’t go this route if they didn’t feel forced to. But in a world where explicit content can earn more than a gold medal, the message is clear: talent, sacrifice, and national pride are no longer enough.

The Olympic Games may celebrate excellence, but behind the medals lies a system built on imbalance, exploitation, and empty promises. While the IOC generates billions and volunteers work for free, athletes—who are the very foundation of the Games—are left to fund their dreams alone. With no prize money, no revenue sharing, and limited sponsorship opportunities, many are forced into crowdfunding, side jobs, or even adult content just to survive. When posting explicit material becomes more financially viable than winning a medal, it’s not just a personal dilemma—it’s a reflection of a broken system. Until athletes are fairly compensated and supported, the Olympic ideal of honour through sport remains little more than a profitable illusion for those at the top.

At IMPCT Sport, our long term goal is to one day be able to provide viable career opportunities in, currently, non-mainstream sports.

The simplest way to achieve this is to grow as a community to work with big sponsors who are willing to invest into the sports we aim to work with, and most importantly, their athletes.

If you’re interested in getting involved in our behind-the-scenes projects to one day make this a reality, don’t hesitate to email us:

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