Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman’s twerking skills have won her legions of new followers.
The Olympian made headlines during the 2024 Paris Olympics when she twerked to celebrate winning bronze in the women’s pole vault final on August 7. She became the first Canadian woman to win a medal in the event.
Since her viral moment, Newman, 30, has seen a huge increase in fans sign up to her OnlyFans. The Olympian usually charges $12.99 per month for her adult-only content, but reduced the price to $7.79 in an “Olympic flash sale.”
Newman told TMZ in an interview published on Friday, August 16, that her subscribers are “10 times more than what I’ve had on before.”
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She continued, “I can’t say a real number because, as we speak, numbers are being added.”
“It just exploded. [I’ve] just been really enjoying connecting with those fans because they’re so ecstatic for me — and obviously love my dancing,” Newman quipped.
In an interview with German tabloid Bild after medaling, Newman explained her decision to join OnlyFans. “It makes me confident and I feel good about it,” she told the outlet, noting that she doesn’t post photos of herself completely nude. Instead, she posts “a lot of my training sessions, talks about nutrition and lots of tips and tricks.”
Newman also defended her viral twerking celebration after clearing 4.85 meters in the women’s final to earn bronze.
“I’m always injured, and I’m always getting back on the horse so I said I’m gonna scare my coaches because I want them to lighten up,” Newman said in an interview with CBC Sports on Friday, August 9. “There’s photos of them being really serious and I could feel them [being] really intense. I mean, they’ve built me into becoming an Olympic medalist, and not a lot of coaches can say that.”
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She continued, “So I said I’m gonna fake an injury and dance after. But it just happened very fluid. I didn’t honestly think, ‘I’m going to twerk.’ But just from grabbing that and getting to the knee with the twerk, it just all worked out in one.”
Team USA’s Katie Moon took home silver in the women’s pole vault final with her 4.85-meter jump. (Though both Newman and Moon cleared the same height, Newman had one more missed attempt than Moon, which pushed her down into third place.) Australia’s Nina Kennedy took home the gold with a 4.9-meter jump.