Pimpin' For The Olympics

Source: The Times

Some athletes borrow to fund their training, others depend on supportive family.

Logan Campbell, a New Zealand tae kwon do champion has chosen a more unorthodox way of funding his bid for the 2012 London Olympics. He has opened a brothel in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand.

The 23-year-old, who finished in the top 16 in the tae kwon do featherweight division at the Beijing Olympics, turned pimp after funding dried up and he feared he was in danger of missing the games in 2012, he told the New Zealand newspaper the Sunday Star Times.

The Beijing campaign cost about $NZ150,000, most of which came from his parents. His father, Max, an auctioneer, worked two jobs to get him to Beijing and Mr Campbell said that he was tired of being a burden on his parents.

His hopes that his new venture will earn him the $NZ300,000 he needs to be a serious medal contender in London after being beaten in Beijing by the eventual bronze medallist Sung Yu-Chi of Taiwanto.

Mr Campbell, who has taken time off from training to run his high-class gentleman's club, insists that he is not really a pimp.

"When people think of a pimp they think of a guy standing around on a street corner with gold chains. Pimps are more tough-type guys. I'm an owner of an escort agency," he told the newspaper.

He added that he and his business partner Hugo Phillips, 20, employed only "smart, attractive" girls. "We don't treat them like pieces of meat," he said.

That's actually pretty cool. I don't have any problem with the sex/brothel part of this story since prostitution is legal in New Zealand and opening a brothel would be no different then opening a restaurant.

My problem with this story is the Olympics. $150,000NZ for a trip to the Olympics? That's insane. Whatever happened to the Olympic ideal and athletes from everywhere coming together for the Games. For athletes from countries poorer than NZ, their government must be paying for them.

The Olympics just aren't good anymore. Too commercialized and too expensive. These poor athletes have to spend their whole life saving just so the host city can build a kickass stadium that only gets used for 2 weeks?

It's quite a sacrifice to spend $150000 for a single taekwondo tournament. How long is a taekwondo match? 3 minutes? Can you imagine being a poor 100m runner. One heat, 10 seconds and you're done. If I went to the Olympics I'd play in a team sport. Like field hockey so I can play alot of games and make my trip worthwhile :)