Paddle UK has announced that British canoeist Kurts Adam Rozentals was given a suspension of two years and removed from the Olympic program after posting a video explicit on Instagram, and misinforming the media about the reason for his original ban.

The athlete was suspended by the governing body in April and then removed from the elite program.

Rozentals is a 23 year old canoe-slalom competitor who said he started using OnlyFans, a subscription service that allows users monetise adult content. He posted'spicy material' to fund his Olympic dreams.

A disciplinary panel determined that he had admitted to posting a video explicit on Instagram, which was then "removed due to its explicit nature".

Paddle UK issued a statement saying that the athlete intentionally misinformed journalists about his suspension being related to his social media account OnlyFans.

The governing body stated that his actions were gross misconduct, and brought Paddle UK into "serious public disrepute".

'VERY ELEGANT' PUNISHMENT

Rozentals, who confirmed the "extreme" punishment to BBC Sport, did not identify the athlete. He said that the ban wouldn't have occurred if the athletes had been properly funded.

Rozentals was funded by Paddle UK’s World Class Programme. However, he claimed that it didn't allow him to become a full-time sportsperson.

He said: "While the video was crazy, I don't think it was illegal. It certainly shouldn't have been the reason to ban an athlete."

Looking back, I'm not sure I would have posted something like that. It's hard to remember my state of mind when I posted it.

It was the first real improvement in my financial position that I had ever seen in my life. This was the first training I could fund myself.

(source: Reuters)