Entertainment News3 min(s) read
A former Olympic athlete has spoken out about his porn addiction, how he recovered, and what he is doing to help young men going through a similar thing.
Freddie Woodward, 30, a former Team GB diver who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics has revealed that in the height of his addiction he used porn websites up to 10 times a day.
The athlete, who began diving aged seven, claims that his problems began when he started secondary school and was spending 20 hours a week training in the pool and gym.
Explaining how he fell into the harmful habit to the BBC, Woodward said: "I'm the first generation to have had access to high-speed internet porn.
"I realized I had a problem when it came to homework and exams, like GCSEs and A Levels. Every time I sat down to revise, all I wanted to do was open those sites."
A few years later, aged 20, the young star had won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, was a Junior European silver medallist, and represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games. However, as his career peaked, so did his use of porn.
Recalling his darkest moments, he said: "If I'd had a bad training session, it was always the thing I could turn to."
Taking it one step further, he even began sharing nude pictures and videos of himself with strangers on social media. Woodward said he did so because it gave him “more of a thrill”.
He admitted: "I was doing something clearly irresponsible, but I didn't care."
Sadly, the images were eventually leaked online, and it ended his relationship after his girlfriend at the time found out and confronted him about it.
Tragically, Woodward said: "I was so embarrassed and crushed. I just didn't know how to deal with it.
"The worst part was, I still couldn't quit porn. I couldn't stop."
Understandably, his addiction hugely impacted his mental health, and he tried for six years to overcome it with little luck. Eventually, what worked was altering his mindset from being someone trying to quit porn to "someone who doesn't watch porn".
However, after he spoke out, some social media users made an outrageous claim about why he'd chosen to go public.
One wrote: "I always feel like confessing this to the press is a fetish in of itself," while another added: "I never see any articles about them getting addicted to Runescape or Crusader Kings. Just that they love j*rking it sooo much."
Someone else claimed: "It’s just a different form of exhibitionism, isn’t it. The dynamic is exactly the same."
In the years since his retirement from professional sport, the former bronze medal winner makes a living making social media videos about food and culture while travelling with his girlfriend, Chika Izumi, a former artistic swimmer on Japan's national team.
According to Izumi, Woodward was very open about his struggles with porn since the beginning of their relationship, and she is very proud of how far he has come in his recovery.
She said: "I'm so proud of him, honestly - and I'm so glad he did it.
"I know he's going to help so many boys and men. I can't believe how brave he is, to talk to the world."
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sport3 min(s) read
As the 2024 Olympic Games kick off in Paris, one aspect of the event is grabbing attention for reasons other than athletic prowess: the high demand for condoms in the Olympic Village.
This year, organizers have stocked up on a record 300,000 condoms, the highest number ever ordered for the Games, per Sky News. The previous record was set during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when organizers had to procure an additional 20,000 condoms after running out of the initial 70,000.
But why is there such a significant demand for condoms among athletes? Former Olympian Susen Tiedtke, who competed in the long jump at the 1992 and 2000 Olympics, provided some insight into this phenomenon.
Speaking to Bild in July 2021, Tiedtke described sex at the Olympics as "inevitable no matter what."
She explained that athletes, who dedicate their lives to rigorous training and competition, naturally seek ways to release their pent-up energy once their events are over.
Tiedtke noted that athletes reach their physical peak during the Games, which can lead to a strong desire for physical release after intense competition.
“The athletes are at their physical peak at the Olympics. When the competition is over, they want to release their energy,” she said.
She also mentioned that the post-competition period is characterized by numerous social gatherings and parties, where alcohol often plays a role. This combination, she explained, contributes to the high levels of sexual activity observed in the Olympic Village.
Matthew Syed, a former Great Britain table tennis player who competed in Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000, has also shared his experiences. Writing in The Times in 2008, Syed candidly reflected on the sexual atmosphere of the Olympic Village.
He described his time in Barcelona as being as much about “sex as it was about sport,” stating: “I am often asked if the Olympic Village... is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is always the same: too right it is.”
Syed admitted that he experienced a significant amount of sexual activity during the Games, surpassing what he had encountered in the rest of his life up to that point.
The intense focus on athletic performance and the subsequent release of built-up energy contribute to the unique social environment of the Olympic Village.
With athletes from around the world coming together in a high-pressure setting, the blend of physical peak performance, social gatherings, and relaxed post-competition interactions creates an environment where sexual activity is notably high.
As the Games continue in Paris, it seems that the Olympic Village will remain a hub of both athletic achievement and, perhaps inevitably, a vibrant social scene.
world3 min(s) read
An Olympic climbing athlete's devastating slip-up has gone viral after it caused her to miss out on a Tokyo 2020 win.
Iuliia Kaplina of the Russian Olympic Committee was up against Team GB's Shauna Coxsey when she got off to a flying start in the first heat of the three-discipline women's sport climbing, the Daily Mail reports.
However, as she competed at the Aomi Urban Sports Park, she slipped up moments before she reached the top of the wall - a mistake that caused her to slip, fall, and enable her competitor to take the lead.
Watch the viral slip-up below:Kaplina began to cry as she descended from the bolder, but the record-holding climber still managed to place fifth with her first attempt time of 7.65 seconds, per Olympics.com.
Coxsey later said of the incident, as per the Guardian: "The format is not ideal. As an athlete, I think it's pretty risky on your body. It's intense. It's almost impossible to train all the aspects of the combined in a good way, anyway."
After the video was reposted to Reddit, supportive viewers took to the comments section to sympathise with the athlete.
One wrote: "Luckily her first attempt was 7.65 seconds, she just tried to improve her already great earlier run. I can imagine she is very disappointed, but fortunately not the end of the world."
A second added: "the leg kicks as she descended is what got me... poor thing."
A third wrote: "I saw this on TV in the UK, and the commentator referred to it as a 'tantrum'. I thought that was cruel when she's just showing emotion."
A fourth remarked: "Oh god I can't imagine how she feels. You train for several years in your life just for a 10 second event but all the effort goes to waste due to a small mistake."
However, she was not the only athlete to fall off the wall at Tokyo 2020, and it also happened to Coxsey, the Guardian reports, who ended up placing 10th after ranking 15th in Speed, 4th in Boulder and 13th in Lead.
celebrity3 min(s) read
A 42-year-old Olympic athlete has explained why being a virgin puts her at a disadvantage.
Lolo Jones is one of America’s most decorated and versatile athletes - an Olympian who’s excelled at both summer and winter sports.
She has racked up three NCAA titles and 11 All-American honors in hurdles while at Louisiana State University before going on to win gold at the World Indoor Championships, IAAF World Athletics Final, and the World Championships.
She also took her talents to the ice, competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics as a bobsledder.
Yet, for all her accomplishments on the track and in the sled, her personal life has been far more complicated.
The athlete, a devout Christian, has been vocal for years about her decision to have sex after marriage - something she first shared publicly in 2012 when she was in her late twenties.
"There's virgins out there, I'm gonna let them know, it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Jones said at the time. "Harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage."
Her revelation came at a cost. During an appearance on Kevin Hart’s Cold as Balls series in 2020, she admitted: “That killed all my dates after that. Before, at least I had a chance. Before, I'd like, tiptoe. 'Okay, when's a good time to tell him? Do I wait until he sees my personality a little bit? Or do I just drop the bomb?'”
She also revealed that her abstinence may have affected her athletic performance. "Having sex actually helps you as an athlete, a female athlete. So, I'm running at a disadvantage," she said.
"I have a higher level of intensity because I don't have any pressure release. Everybody knows me as stressed out."
Despite the struggles, the Olympian has taken proactive steps to secure her future. In 2022, she froze her eggs to preserve her options for starting a family.
"I have made the right move to prepare for a family if me and my husband want to try to have kids one day, we have options," she shared on Instagram. "No one should be shamed for taking their time to figure out who their life partner is."
"A woman shouldn’t be shamed for wanting biological kids or wanting to know what it’s like to be pregnant and carry her own child," she continued. "I pray for all women that are on this journey or have done this journey. We are warriors they will never know."
Now, her focus has shifted to finding calm in the chaos. “I know it seems super weird, but I'm just trying to do things that are peaceful. I tell everybody I'm on a day-by-day plan,” Jones told the Mail Online.
"I'm on the Tom Brady retirement plan before he actually retired," she added.
uncategorised5 min(s) read
sport4 min(s) read
The convicted child rapist who was allowed to compete in the Olympics shed tears at his first interview since his appearance at the prestigious event.
Steven van de Velde received quite the reception each time he appeared on the volleyball court, but considering he served time for raping a child less than a decade ago, we're not surprised.
The 29-year-old was sentenced to four years in a Dutch prison in 2016 after admitting to befriending a 12-year-old girl from Milton Keyes in the United Kingdom on Facebook, before traveling to her location to have sex with her.
He was 19 at the time.
The athlete had initially been told that his actions had destroyed his dream of ever representing his country at the Olympics, with Judge Francis Sheridan, telling van de Velde that he could have been a "leader" in his sport, had it not been for his crimes.
"Prior to coming to this country you were training as a potential Olympian. Your hopes of representing your country now lie as a shattered dream," he told the criminal. "Your actions have wrecked your life and you could, had you never come to England and committed these offenses, have been a leader in your sport."
However, in a dramatic U-turn decision supported by both the Dutch volleyball federation and the National Olympic Committee, he was given the opportunity to represent his home nation this year at the 2024 Paris Games, much to the dismay of sports fans.
Thankfully, they didn't have to see him for too long after van de Velde and his partner Immers lost their round of 16 match against Brazil on August 4 and were booted out of the competition.
Now, just over a week on the volleyball player has given his first interview following his loss at the Games.
"I definitely thought about it, yes. I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that," he told Dutch newspaper NOS Sports. "But hurting people around me - whether it's Matthew, my wife, my child... that just goes too far for me. That's definitely a moment where I thought, is this worth it?"
Van de Velde is currently married to volleyball pro Kim Behrens from Germany and the pair share a little boy together.
The 29-year-old was visibly emotional during the interview as he continued: "Someone can hold me responsible for what happened forever. That's okay, someone has the right to do that, but I try to focus on what I can influence. I know this will play a role for the rest of my life. I have to accept that, because I made a mistake."
Reflecting on his colleague's controversial history during the competition, Immers also previously doubled down on this sentiment, stating that "He had his punishment."
"And now, he's really kind. For me, that's a big example that you can grow. What happened in the past, is not good, of course," he added.
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