Alysha Newman became a viral sensation at the 2024 Olympics after she celebrated winning Canada’s first medal in women’s pole vault by pretending to be hurt then twerking.
“I’m always injured and I’m always getting back on the horse, so I said I’m gonna go and scare my coaches because I want them to lighten up,” she told CBC Sports. “So I said I’m gonna fake an injury and dance after. It just happened very fluid. I didn’t think I’m gonna twerk, but just from grabbing that to getting to the knee with a twerk it all just worked out in one.”
It’s been a long journey for Newman to that spontaneous moment of joy. “I had brain problems. I had a brain health issue. There’s mental health, and there’s brain health,” she told the Olympics website about the concussion she suffered three months before she no-heighted at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. “I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like the sport at that time, and it was a struggle for me. I needed to step away, be happy off the track, so then I learned to love track again and then fix my mental health.”
Like many Olympians, Newman is on OnlyFans to help pay the bills so she can focus on her athletic career. “I earn money with what I post… It makes me confident and I feel good about it,” she explained to German publication BILD.
But don’t sign up for Newman’s account, which has over 75,000 likes, expecting to see nudity. “I post a lot of my training sessions, talk about nutrition and lots of tips and tricks,” she said. “Many people have a certain cliché when they think of OnlyFans. I can’t change many people’s minds. But this website has connected me with many fans, more than any other pole vaulter before. What others think about it doesn’t bother me. I am who I am and I do it well.”
You can watch her Olympics celebration here.