A U.S. Paralympic athlete battling to finance her comeback to the 2028 Los Angeles Games has secured an unconventional sponsorship that sees her posting strictly safe-for-work content on OnlyFans. Catarina Guimaraes, a 22-year-old sprinter from Cranford, New Jersey, signed a $25,000 annual deal with the subscription platform after turning down five-figure offers to share explicit material.
The financial boost allows Guimaraes to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses related to her cerebral palsy while training in California. Her profile, priced at $10 per month, features behind-the-scenes workout footage, gym routines and personal updates – deliberately avoiding anything she deems inappropriate.
“All my teammates were like, ‘You should totally take him up on [the call],’” Guimaraes told reporters. “I was like, ‘Nooooo, that is not what I’m about.’ But it was crazy. I did not realize people would offer that much money for that stuff.”
Medical Costs and Unconventional Sponsorship
The deal with OnlyFans comes at a critical juncture in Guimaraes’ career. Living with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that affects muscle tone, posture and body movement, the athlete describes her daily reality as “having bad WiFi in your brain.”
“It’s like this constant fight to keep everything in sync,” she explained, using her signature analogy to describe the condition. The financial support from OnlyFans provides crucial relief, allowing her father John to focus on his daughter’s athletic aspirations rather than financial worries.
“The idea behind this is to reduce her financial strain,” John Guimaraes said. “When she wakes up, she shouldn’t be thinking, ‘Do I have enough gas money to get to the training centre?’ It should be her training.”
The athlete’s journey to elite competition began at an early age. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at three after a neurologist in Portugal identified the condition, Guimaraes was already at the track every other day by age nine, practising sprints and ladder drills to prepare for her school’s annual race.
Though she lost her first attempt badly – “I got my a** kicked,” she recalled – the experience only fuelled her determination. She went on to earn a second-degree black belt in taekwondo, join an adaptive track club, and make history as the first NCAA Division I athlete with cerebral palsy when she signed with High Point University.
Paris Paralympics and Future Ambitions
Guimaraes represented Team USA at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where she placed eighth in the long jump at Stade de France. The experience remains a defining moment in her young career.
“It was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m at the Paralympics,’” she said of her debut on the world stage. Now based in Chula Vista, California, she is balancing intense training with coursework for a master’s degree in kinesiology from Louisiana State University.
Her preparation spans multiple competitions, including the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football World Cup and her target event, the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The financial burden of maintaining world-class training while pursuing academic goals has driven her to explore creative funding solutions.
Beyond athletics, Guimaraes has built a social media following centred on female empowerment in sports. Her OnlyFans partnership represents an extension of this mission, though it has brought challenges including reach restrictions on Instagram.
“I really love the idea that you can be feminine and powerful and strong at the same time,” Guimaraes said. “I feel like people forget that. And that’s what my page has been about.”
Platform Partnership and Athlete Empowerment
OnlyFans has positioned itself as a platform willing to work with athlete creators who are “excited about using the platform to connect with their audience while building a new revenue stream through their content,” according to a spokesperson who spoke to NJ.com.
The partnership specifically focuses on the platform’s non-explicit sports tier, OnlyFans Sports, which aims to showcase wholesome athletic content. While the athlete’s profile charges subscribers $10 per month, the content remains strictly within athletic boundaries.
The arrangement reflects a broader trend of athletes seeking alternative funding methods as traditional sponsorship models evolve. Guimaraes’ approach demonstrates how digital platforms can provide new pathways for athletes with disabilities to maintain elite-level training without compromising their personal values.
The financial support enables Guimaraes to concentrate on her primary goal: representing Team USA at the 2028 Los Angeles Games while managing the ongoing costs associated with her condition.
Why it Matters
Catarina Guimaraes’ story illuminates the financial realities many Paralympic athletes face when pursuing their dreams at the highest level. Her decision to partner with OnlyFans for non-explicit content while rejecting lucrative but inappropriate offers demonstrates both the creative solutions emerging in athlete funding and the personal boundaries athletes maintain despite economic pressure. For athletes with disabilities, whose medical and training costs often exceed what traditional sponsorship can cover, Guimaraes’ approach may pave the way for more sustainable pathways to international competition. Her refusal to compromise her values for financial gain sends a powerful message about athlete agency and the importance of platforms that support wholesome athletic achievement.
