As the subscription-based platform OnlyFans continues to grow, athletes are embracing it to get by. In the documentary Big Feminine Energy, Olympic pole vaulter Alysha Newman explains how her success wouldn’t have been possible without it.
After becoming the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in pole vault with a bronze at the 2024 Paris Games, Newman revealed she was funding her athletic journey with profits she earned from the website. On OnlyFans, users pay a fee to access content directly from its creators.
“[With] my OnlyFans, I started seeing a revenue that I’ve never seen,” she says in the video. “It’s like having really great sponsors.”
Like many Canadian athletes, Newman receives just $21,000 a year through the federal Athlete Assistance Program. So to pay for the travel, training and cost of living to compete at an elite level, she went looking for other sources of income.
Her decision was about more than just money — it was also about ownership. Newman has been vocal about wanting control over her image, her brand and the way she connects with her audience.
“People have always tried to put me in a box — either athlete or model, serious or feminine,” she says. “I decided I didn’t need to choose. I could define myself on my own terms.”
Still, the choice has come with controversy. Platforms like OnlyFans are polarizing and often criticized for objectifying women and centring the male gaze. Newman knew it would be challenging to overcome the stigma of being on OnlyFans, but she sees her looks as part of her competitive edge.
“Femininity has always been [a] positive thing for me,” she says. “Without my beauty and my sponsorships, I would have never been able to have the resources I had to get to that medal.
“I don’t mind having people sexualizing me. I’m OK with it. For me, it’s a sense of power. The saying ‘Look good; feel good’ is actually a thing. If I’m on the runway and I’m confident, it’ll be hard to beat me.”
And, she adds, her identities as an athlete and as an entrepreneur are not mutually exclusive. “I’ve learned I don’t have to hide either side of myself,” she says. “I can be an Olympic medalist and still embrace beauty, style and femininity. That balance is where my confidence comes from.”
Newman’s story is part of a larger conversation around trad wives, girlhood, the soft life and other trends explored in the documentary Big Feminine Energy, now streaming on CBC Gem and the CBC Docs YouTube channel.
