Kiwi taekwondo fighter funded 'Olympic dream' by running brothel

Sydney, Aug 3 (ANI): A taekwondo fighter, who managed to fulfill his Olympic dream and fund himself by running a brothel, has rejected being labelled a 'pimp', and claimed that prostitution is legal in his home country New Zealand.

Logan Campbell, who is representing New Zealand next week in the men's under-68kg division in the London Olympics, opened a brothel in Auckland in 2009, when he was struggling to raise finances for his campaign to make it to the 2012 Games.

"I sold the brothel so I don't really want to talk about it now, OK," The Age quoted Campbell, as saying.

"It's a legal business in New Zealand, it's completely different from other countries in the world... no one was forced into the industry, and they're not doing it because they are in poverty because we have a really good welfare system," he added.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee had reportedly warned Campbell that his association with the 14-room brothel, which he described as a high-class "gentleman's club", could damage his chances of Olympic selection.

Campbell, 26, sold the establishment in early 2010 and the proceeds, along with funding from the New Zealand's elite sporting body SPARC , allowed him to train full time, that resulted in his selection for the Games in March this year.

Campbell said the publicity generated by his brothel had probably helped taekwondo win funding in New Zealand.

"We had never had funding, ever, ever in the history of taekwondo, and all of a sudden it was, like, bam! There was this funding, so it was sweet," he said. (ANI)