Banned Olympic hopeful whose OnlyFans ‘cost him his canoeing career’ reveals why he did it

For most athletes, the Olympics are the ultimate goal. For Kurts Adams Rozentals, that dream might be slipping away — all because of a clip he posted online. The 23-year-old British canoeist has been banned from competing and training for two years after Paddle UK ruled that an “explicit” OnlyFans video he uploaded in March had brought the sport into “serious disrepute”.

But Kurts says this isn’t a story about sex or scandal — it’s about survival in the industry.

Credit: Instagram/@kurtsadams

“The funding was not increasing, but everything else was getting way more expensive,” he told LADbible. “I was like, ‘I have to do something, or I’m going to have to just quit this Olympic dream’.”

Earlier this year, he went viral after being kicked off Paddle UK’s World Class Programme, which is the fast track to the Olympics. He later admitted posting the video, which showed a “sex act” filmed during a flight, to his public Instagram. It was swiftly taken down.

At the hearing, the panel decided his behaviour was “indecent, offensive or immoral” and ruled that it amounted to gross misconduct.

Credit: Instagram/@kurtsadams

But Kurts says what pushed him to OnlyFans in the first place was a feeling that, no matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t keep up financially with other athletes: “Most of the other athletes on the program, they are funded by their parents. I was never in the same position as the more privileged kids.”

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He says he was scraping by on £16,000 a year from Paddle UK while trying to chase a spot at the 2028 Olympics: “I was sitting on the start line and I’m worried about how to pay rent. It just really removes all the joy. So then I decided, I’m going to launch an OnlyFans.”

Kurts started the account in December and quickly saw success, claiming to have earned over £100,000 between January and May. But despite the numbers, he insists money wasn’t the point — it was about being able to keep training and live without constant anxiety.

“It’s cost me my canoeing career. But what that video made… In a couple hours, I think it was like four or five thousand. Something like that, which is crazy amounts of money,” he said. “As someone who grew up with absolutely no money whatsoever, it’s crazy.”

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He admits that the infamous plane video wasn’t even his biggest earner. And while the internet may have had a field day, Kurts says the footage “wasn’t anything that crazy” and that it still abided by Instagram’s policies.

Raised by a single mum, Kurts says he’s always had a “do whatever it takes” mentality: “She did whatever it takes. And I think that mindset kind of got instilled into me. It’s about doing what needs to be done to achieve something.”

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Now, he’s using his earnings to support his mum and fund his own training, still hoping to make it to the Olympics one day.

“I’ve gotten a lot of heat about [OnlyFans], but I don’t regret it. It’s allowed me to put food on the table and enjoy training,” he said. “I just got to figure out, one way or another, how to get to the Olympics now.

“Life is always unpredictable, but we find a way to keep our heads up and find a way to win, one way or another.”

Featured image credit: Instagram