A well-known diver who has competed for Mexico in the Olympics hopes to do so again next year in Paris. Unfortunately he’s not getting the financial support he needs — so he opened an OnlyFans account to pay for his training!
Diego Balleza, who placed fourth in 10-meter platform synchronized diving at the Tokyo Olympics, has opted to join the adult streaming site in order to make money while he preps for next year’s games in France. According to the Associated Press, the diver decided to open an account on the controversial platform amid an ongoing fight over funding for athlete training among officials in Mexico. More on that later…
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The diver, who hails from the Mexican state of Nuevo León, told the AP that OnlyFans is a much-needed source of income as he preps for the 2024 Olympic Games:
“It occurred to me to open it because you are always looking for a way to make income. I support my house and my mother, and I have bills to pay, and you can upload whatever you want in there, it’s a valid content.”
Per the news outlet, the diver charges a monthly fee of $15 to his subscribers. He’s already uploaded hundreds of images and dozens of videos — and taken in thousands of likes and interactions from fans thus far in his OF journey. He’s obviously no stranger to diving in headfirst! LOLz! Not to mention, the man knows how good he looks wearing next to nothing! Nothing is just one step away!
The 28-year-old athlete added:
“The money I now receive [through OnlyFans] is very volatile, but it has served me well so far. … I am happy that the people who are in my page have been very good and respectful, I hope they continue like this.”
As we mentioned, this OnlyFans idea first came up because of an ongoing issue within Mexico’s sports commission.
Per the AP, the head of the country’s national sports commission Ana Guevara decided in January to “stop providing monthly payments for aquatics athletes.” Prior to that, Balleza and others had been subsiding on a government training scholarship of 30,000 pesos (roughly $1,750 USD) per month. But now that training money is gone.
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World Aquatics, the governing board overseeing water sports including Balleza’s synchronized diving, has demanded Guevara resume payments to athletes. That org even suspended the president of the Mexican Swimming Federation, Kiril Todorov, for failing to “comply with the governing body’s good governance standards.” But until that’s worked out via ongoing mediation by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Balleza and others water athletes have been (literally) hung out to dry. Clearly, he can’t even afford clothes!
Balleza’s OnlyFans idea may be the most headline-worthy, but it’s not the only way athletes are fighting to survive. For example, the synchronized diver’s partner Kevin Berlin started a coffee brand called Olimpiada Café to make money for his training.
Berlin also spoke to the AP about the funding issues:
“At first we thought we would only sell it to family and friends, but then it started to go viral, and it reached more people. You have to see the positive in things. Thanks to all the problems I had, we created a business that is doing well and perhaps it will be useful for the future. In sports you don’t know if an injury ends your career quickly.”
And all that money is needed, like, right now. Berlin and Balleza are set to compete together next month at a qualifier in Fukuoka, Japan. If they do well there, they’ll head to the Paris Olympics next year.
World Aquatics has been trying to get money together to send the divers — and dozens of other Mexican athletes — to Olympic qualifying competitions around the world in the coming months. But that’s proven uncertain.
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Balleza explained he’d rather not have to worry about money by doing things like OnlyFans, but reality has forced him to seek that avenue to continue training:
“This situation is a bit tedious because in the end you are not 100% focused on what you have to do. But nothing is impossible, we already have flights and logistics for the world championships. Now we have to train hard and go a get those Olympic spots.”
Let’s hope it all works out for him and the rest of the athletes in the end.
And here’s hoping Mexican sports authorities reinstate these allowances that give athletes the opportunity to focus ONLY on their training and prep work for these life-changing competitions.
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