Flavor Flav has chipped in to help pay an Olympic athlete’s rent after she took to social media to reveal that she wasn’t going to be able to pay while she was competing in Paris.
The Olympic Games are currently taking place in Paris with athletes flying in from across the world.
However, some athletes have highlighted the pay inequality in the games, with one competitor revealing that she isn’t even able to pay rent while in Paris.
Discus thrower Veronica Fraley, 24, took to social media to reveal that Vanderbilt could only cover 75% of her rent.
She posted on X: ‘I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent 😒 my school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven’t won anything 😂) enough to buy new cars and houses 👎🏾👎🏾👎🏾’
She then clarified: ‘Thanks for the supporting messages but I want to clarify my irritation isn’t with the school itself, mainly the rules that bar me from making the amount I’m WORTH as a collegiate athlete such as NIL which favors popularity over performance. That’s all I’m sayin. Wish me luck tm!’
Many fans were shocked that an Olympian might have to struggle in this way, but one 90s hip-hop legend stepped in to help out.
Flavor Flav, who has partnered with the USA Water Polo team for the games replied: ‘I gotchu,,, DM me and I’ll send payment TODAY so you don’t have to worry bout it TOMORROW,,, and imma be rooting for ya tomorrow LETZ GO,!!!’
Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and husband of tennis star Serena Williams also commented that he’d pay too.
‘C’mon now! I’ll split it with @flavorfav,’ he said.
While this may not have solved the inequalities when it comes to pay in sports, it did help the athlete in the short term who was floored by the generous offers.
‘THANK YOU & @FlavorFlav SO MUCH 😭🥹 this makes every difference in the WORLD & I hope to represent team USA well this week 🇺🇸❤️’ said Veronica in response.
Flavor Flav took to X again to speak about how the ‘power of community’ helped the athlete not just for the month, but help her rent get paid for the year.
‘This the power of community,,, my girl @vmfraley had 7000 people see her tweet,, only 41 people “liked” it,, only 5 people commented,, only 1 tagged me and @alexisohanian.
‘Now that tweet been seen by 10 MILLION people,, her rent paid off for the year,, and people gots her back!’
A verified GoFundMe page was set up to support the star and has raised $12,271 USD out of a goal of $20,000.
The 24-year-old is set to compete in track and field games organised later on today, with the discus qualification for women taking place at 17.55 BST.
The games have been gaining a lot of attention this year, with some bizarre moments including Snoop Dogg’s Olympics weed-inspired pin making headlines, and an Italian gymnast partnering with parmesan cheese.
The Games are set to continue over the next week and a bit and are set to wrap up on Sunday, August 11, 2024.