Dragons_cave
Legendary Member
I don’t see any “scandal” here, and Paddle UK created the “news worthy” spat. I would agree with Paddle UK if they had simply cut his allowance, because he admits he is earning enough by himself now, but there is no reason to disallow him from competing.Idk about an “impossible” choice. There are plenty of athletes that have come from backgrounds even more humble than his and gone on to win world tournaments and Olympic medals in their respective sports without having to resort to OnlyFans. Hell, OF didn’t even exist until 2016. He chose the easy way. Now while it’s certainly true that the stipends these athletes receive are laughable, there are certainly other ways to make ends meet besides turning to porn.
At the end of the day I really don’t see what the big deal is. Yea, some snobs from the organization clutched their pearls and overreacted, but this guy should have known something like this was liable to happen. Organizations like that are under the microscope because they handle government funds and hate scandal, particularly ones that involve allegations of a sexual nature. He made a choice and now he has to live with the consequences. It’s really not news worthy, imo.
I think the alternative is considered “controversial” because he is earning a lot on OF (I smell some envy by the other athletes); if he had chosen a gig who earned him £8 per hour, everybody would shrug him off.I’ve been following the coverage about Kurt Adam Rozental and the discussion around his £16,000 salary from Paddle UK. While I understand why people are frustrated on his behalf (especially when elite athletes often struggle to make ends meet) I do think there’s another perspective worth considering.
At 22, a lot of people are in jobs that don’t pay much, and many supplement their income with part-time work in bars, shops, or restaurants. Surely full-time training in canoeing, as demanding as it is, doesn’t take up every hour of every day. So it seems reasonable to think that a flexible side job could be possible to support himself financially without having to face a stark choice between his sport and something like OnlyFans.
To be clear, I’m not criticising him at all. In fact, I think he’s been fortunate in some ways as he’s young, doing what he loved, and was even being paid (albeit modestly) to pursue a passion. That’s not something many people his age get to say. It just seems like there might be ways to make it work without having to give up the sport or turn to controversial alternatives