Rio 2016 gold medallist Chloe Esposito still without a sponsor despite historic win

EXCLUSIVE: SHE’S a gold medallist with a killer smile, but Chloe Esposito hasn’t been able to attract the attention of a single sponsor.

Modern Pentathlon gold medallist Chloe Esposito. Picture: Ian Currie

EXCLUSIVE: SHE’S a gold medallist with a killer smile, but Chloe Esposito hasn’t been able to attract the attention of a single sponsor.

Esposito produced one of the great stories of the recent Rio Olympics coming from behind to take gold in the tough, but niche sport of modern pentathlon.

But her victory hasn’t resulted in a gold rush. Esposito has been inundated with good wishes from the public but a sponsorship or corporate backing is yet to eventuate.

“I have not had any sponsorship (opportunities) at the moment. I thought it would have been a lot easier than it has been, but hopefully soon,’’ Esposito, 25, said.

“I am doing a lot of speaking engagements and the financial opportunities I have had have been through speaking engagement, but I definitely thought it would be a lot easier in regards to sponsors and everything like that. I don’t know why, but nothing has really come my way at the moment.’’

Olympic gold medallist Chloe Esposito ahead of the 2016 I Support Women In Sport Awards. Picture: Richard Dobson

Esposito spent Saturday hard at work in her job at a gun range.

She spent Friday night in Melbourne at a function for White Pages, admitting she was still adapting to the golden glow of Rio.

“I am getting so many emails and so many people trying to communicate with me. It is too much and I just need someone to help me with it,’’ she said.

“I have someone I am working with at the moment, but I am looking for a fulltime manager.’’

Esposito said she headed to Rio without management in place.

“My dad is my coach and we just worked as a family and did not really need a manager,’’ she said.

She said her victory was a shock to everyone but her inner circle.

“For my family and I it was 10 years in the making. It (pentathlon) is not a popular sport in Australia so I did not expect anyone to really know about us,’’ she said.

“But we had planned for this. We did not know when it was going to happen but we knew something good was going to happen because we had been training so hard.’’

Although she has the 2020 Toyko Olympics in her sights, Esposito is planning to take a break before getting back into training.

“I just want to stay home. I have spent so much time overseas and have been travelling so much with the sport that I just want to spend some time at home and catch up with my family and friends.’’ she said.