Out-athlete and New Zealand rower Robbie Manson says he makes more by posting content on OnlyFans than as an athlete.

Manson is in Paris, where he competed in Men’s Double Sculls. He and his rowing partner Jordan Parry made it to today’s final. However, they failed to win a medal. Afterward, on Instagram, Manson said “Tough race today but 6th place at the Olympics.”

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“Any publicity is good publicity”

Speaking yesterday to Reuters, the 34-year-old said he’d relied on his OnlyFans income to help keep his Olympic dreams alive.

“I get more than double what I would be on otherwise as an athlete. Read into that what you will, but I am making more from OnlyFans than I am from rowing at this stage,” he said.

“I thought, if I’m going to do it, you have to tell everyone, be really open and I think you need to feel that any publicity is good publicity.”

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Manson said he’d been inspired to start his OnlyFans after former Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham did so. He knew he would need to be open and transparent about it from the get-go.

“The fact that I’m gay, I have the gay following and the audience already, and I’m slightly leaning into that. I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone, (but) for other athletes, there’s definitely an opportunity there.”

As for what he posts, expect, “Artistic nudes – I don’t want to say too much more than that, I think people need to subscribe if they want to know what’s exactly on there,” said Manson.

World record holder

Manson has long been an athlete on our radar. He made his Olympic debut in 2012 in the quadruple sculls (four men in a boat) and competed in the double sculls in Rio in 2016. He also achieved notable success in the single sculls. In fact, in 2017 he set a single sculls world-best time of six minutes, 30.74 seconds at the World Cup in Poznan, Poland.

However, he decided to not participate in the 2020 Olympics and instead opted to retire to concentrate on his mental health.

“I started rowing when I was 16 and I hadn’t really had a break since I started, so I was 31 I think when I retired. It was just a really long time. It’s a tough sport, I probably needed to take a break at some point. If I’d taken a year off at after one of the Olympics I might have had a little bit more in me but I think I needed to take that break. I was not enjoying it,” he told the World Rowing YouTube Channel in March this year.

He instead took up a job as a stablehand for New Zealand show jumper Sam McIntosh. After six months, he began to coach rowing. This drew him back into the sport as a competitor.

“I’m just enjoying”

Earlier this year, Mason spoke to Queerty about his decision to try again for the Olympics.

“After taking a break, I thought there was only a limited time I can do this, and thought maybe I [should]. I was a little bit unsure for a while, but by this time last year, I went all-in to try and make the team and qualify.”

Asked what he found the hardest thing about being an Olympic athlete, Mason said, The training, the daily grind. You just have to be on every day. No one’s motivated all the time, but you’ve still gotta do the work. So being part of a team and having a coach and all of that helps you get up to do it.

“When I retired, I felt like I needed the break. I was mentally burned out. But I feel like I went through the process of being ‘This is the last time I get to do this,’ and making the most of it. I guess I lost the enjoyment and appreciation for everything. Now, I really, really enjoy what I do every day. My teammates are awesome. But it’s also really hard. I don’t feel like I can do this forever, so I’m just enjoying.”

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