Elise Christie once enjoyed an esteemed athletic career as a short track speed skater.
The 35-year-old not only represented Team GB at the Winter Olympics at three consecutive Games, but is a three-time world champion in her discipline. A combined 30 medals earned in the World and European Championships - including 12 gold medals - Christie's success never translated on the Olympic stage.
Despite six attempts to earn gold across three Winter Olympics in Canada, Russia and South Korea, a medal evaded her. It was in Sochi where Christie was subjected to death threats following a collision she was involved in.
A fourth attempt at medaling was the Scotswoman's plan in Beijing 2022 but an ankle injury forever disrupted her dream as it prompted her to retire from the sport at just 31 years old.
British Olympics star's 'scary' new career 'sees me making more money than ever'
Prior to her retirement, Christie retained hope in qualifying for the Games but due to funding being cut for winter athletes, she began working at a Pizza Hut as a delivery driver and pizza maker.
However, her plan never came to fruition and with her skating career behind her and a boost in income needed, Christie turned to a prominent adult content platform where she creates raunchy content. She estimated that she earns £5,000 for every 700 paid subscribers - the same amount she banked for winning the world championship in 2017.
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She told The Telegraph that her presence on the platform is due to her financial burden as she explained: "I’m trying to get to the point where I’m not doing it, but it’s not easy financially. It’s very different from anything I would have imagined doing.
"It all started before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I probably never would have done it with that diagnosis, but I do believe that it got me out of a very difficult time. I learned to use it in a way that I felt comfortable. And everyone does use it differently – it isn’t just what people think it is.
"At the same time, I did go over it for a long time in my head. In the end, I decided that being slagged off for this had nothing on being slagged off for my skating, something I dedicated my life to and apparently failed at. I just thought: ‘What are they actually going to say?’"
Turning to the platform hasn’t been without personal losses for Christie who revealed that she's had friends who no longer would speak to her. "My closest friends pretty much all supported it, but a few people wouldn’t speak to me because of it," she said.
"At the time, it closed off a few opportunities for me elsewhere. The danger is that you do something like this when you’re too young and naive, where you end up being encouraged in the wrong way."
Former Olympian who ended up living in her car turns her life around
A long-term stay on the adult platform is not on the cards for Christie who insisted she hopes to be involved with sport once again. She lamented the lack of financial support skaters receive after ending their careers.
Christie declared: "This isn’t my long-term goal in life. I want to be involved in sport. But at the minute, it helps keep me afloat. My full-time job is difficult for the money I make. It was lovely to be funded to skate, but unless you’re in a very heavily-sponsored sport, it doesn’t give you a life once you stop.
"I imagine that if I were a 100-metre runner, it would be a different story. If you spent 17 years of your life on something else, you wouldn’t be in this financial situation. People need to consider that a little before judging Olympic athletes."
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