NETHERLANDS: ATHLETICS - A GROUP OF FEMALE ATHLETES POSE NUDE ON A PAY PER VIEW WEBSITE TO RAISE MONEY TO TRAIN ABROAD.
Record ID:
647428
NETHERLANDS: ATHLETICS - A GROUP OF FEMALE ATHLETES POSE NUDE ON A PAY PER VIEW WEBSITE TO RAISE MONEY TO TRAIN ABROAD.
- Title: NETHERLANDS: ATHLETICS - A GROUP OF FEMALE ATHLETES POSE NUDE ON A PAY PER VIEW WEBSITE TO RAISE MONEY TO TRAIN ABROAD.
- Date: 13th October 2003
- Summary: (L!1) GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS (OCTOBER 13, 2003)(REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 1. ATHLETE MAJKEN VAN REEKEN POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHER ON RUNNING TRACK, TAKING JACKET OFF 2. PHOTOGRAPHER ALEX BOOR TAKING PICTURES 3. VAN REEKEN PULLING SHIRT UP 4. STOMACH OF VAN REEKEN 5. PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES 6. HANDS ON KEYBOARD
- Embargoed: 28th October 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA29XZJW6FGIJDEGWV6L1KPZPA6
- Story Text: Female Dutch athletes are posing nude on a website
to fund training abroad during the winter after cuts in subsidies
left them out in the cold.
A group of young Dutch sportswomen have come up
with an innovative way for raising money to enhance their
future careers by stripping for a pay-per-view website.
Subsidies to the Royal Dutch Athletics Union were cut
heavily this year giving athletes, many of them still
students, a hard time to scrape together money to finance
their ambitions.
Several athletes, a trainer and a model photographer
joined together to create a website displaying the
sportswomen at their best - in their full glory.
Some 250 photos of six women are shown on
www.sportmeiden.nl, which includes a section free of charge
of photos. But full access to the website costs 80
eurocents ($0.943) a minute. Junior Dutch champion in the
800-metres run, Majken van Reeken is one of the athletes
that took part in the project. Majken aspires to attend
winter training in Portugal, but lacked the financial means.
"I train six times a week and I have no time for a job
to earn the money needed," van Reeken said. Dutch athletes
enjoy travelling to Spain, France, Portugal, South Africa
or the Canary Islands to prepare for the new season in the
sun.
The Netherlands' 23-year old high jump champion, Frenke
Bolt, also features on the site. Bolt believes the project
is unique and has proven to be successful to date.
"Because I study I don't make a lot of money of course, so
you spend a lot of time and money for your sport, but you
don't get any back. So this is kind of a different way to
make a bit of money, but it seems to work really well,"
said Bolt.
Foundes of the site, which has been visited about one
million times a day, said there was enough interest to add
new photos each week. Some male athletes have begun to show
interest in taking part in the project. Those looking for
pornographic pictures, however, may be disappointed.
A note at the bottom of the homepage of the site says
that anyone looking for more than artistic nudity should
leave.
"It is an incentive to the Dutch Royal Athletes Union
and the government that when they cut subsidies in this
way, everybody will have to pose nude in order to finance
their sports," said co- founder of the site, trainer Joop
Tervoort. The site has also be translated into English:
Dutchsportgirls.com
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