Olympian Alisha Newman’s now-viral twerking was one of the highlights of the Paris Games, where the Canadian pole vaulter made history by winning the bronze medal.
While the public speculated that Newman, 30, made the move in response to winning a medal, the OnlyFans star creator told The Post that wasn’t necessarily the case.
“A lot of people think that I got my big break in dance because I won the bronze medal, but again, I didn’t know I won the bronze medal,” Angelica said. [Moser] “If Switzerland’s Newman had tried one more time she could have easily taken my place,” said Newman, who ultimately shared the podium with Australia’s Nina Kennedy (gold) and USA’s Katie Moon (silver).
“If you’ve known me for a long time, I’ve always celebrated Following the Canadian record. So I just jumped 4.85. [meter] I’ve jumped the Canadian record, and in every meet I’ve ever jumped, I’ve done backflips, I’ve danced, I’ve done whatever comes naturally to me.”
Newman appeared to feign injury as she jogged onto the purple track at the Stade de France after smashing the previous record of 4.83 metres on her way to winning Canada’s first Olympic medal in the women’s pole vault – a nod to “an ongoing joke in athletics”.
“[It’s] “If Alisha can stay healthy, she can win a medal,” said Newman, who has battled knee and ankle injuries as well as concussions throughout her career.
“I know people call it twerking because I pretended to be injured and then danced, but I’m laughing because I don’t think my twerking was that good compared to the women and men who can twerk better than me. But it just revealed that the plan was to pretend to be injured, rather than actual twerking. So I’m laughing because obviously it’s out there and I feel so lucky that people got to see a different side of me.”
The London, Ontario-born Newman had long dreamed of competing in the Olympics as a gymnast, but ultimately switched to pole vaulting because of her growing height and because she felt she would not be able to perform the “intense” moves that often come with gymnastics.
“My world was focused on track and field and as soon as I started pole vaulting it just kind of chose me. I broke the meet record in my first meet so I thought, ‘to have my name up on the board and hold a record is pretty amazing,’ and it just took off from there,” she said.
Newman began racking up medals in 2013 when she won gold in the pole vault at the Junior Pan American Championships and then a year later won bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
She then qualified for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she placed 17th in the pole vault.
Newman then qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and wanted to give supporters a unique Olympic experience.
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“We started this in 2021 for economic reasons, but the idea came from the Olympics not being able to bring anyone because of COVID, so we thought, how do we bring all the fans to the Olympics without having to be physically there? So initially we thought we’d do this for the Olympics and go behind the scenes in the Olympic Village for 16 days,” Newman said.
“… It got really popular so I just kept going with it, and I kept going with it for years, doing what I felt comfortable with. I would live stream my training, I would show my workout routines, my abs. A lot of people wanted my ab workouts. My nutrition programs… People were really interested in my journey from when I couldn’t even jump over the bar to winning an Olympic medal this year. So I kept going because I wanted people who believed in me to be a part of that journey. Deep down, I felt like I could get through it, so I’m really glad I kept going. It’s been the best experience for me.”
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The first-time Olympic medallist is aware of the buzz surrounding the arena but isn’t worried about the critics.
“I was raised to never judge someone by their appearance. People have to make a living, they have to pay the bills, they have to do what they have to do, so they do it. So I’m very, very grateful that I have a pretty strong mind and a thick skin that allows me to keep the negative noise contained in its bubble,” she said.
“… I have to be unique and different, and I really enjoy the community that I’ve built that loves athletics and wants to see me pole vault. So, for me, it’s fun.”
As the countdown to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has officially begun, Newman said she can picture herself “competing in the Olympics.”
“For me, it’s very close to Canada and my family can travel there, so I think Los Angeles is a good target,” she said.
Meanwhile, Newman is savoring his Olympic victory and laughing about the viral moment with his loved ones.
“I said to my mum, ‘You would do that at home in front of four people or in front of 100,000 people, that’s just who you are.’ So we had a good laugh and it ended up being a big blast at the actual big moment. [which] “I brought a medal back home to my country,” she said.
