Flavor Flav helps Olympic discus thrower Veronica Fraley who said she struggles to pay the rent

1 of 4 |

ARCHIVO- Veronica Fraley compite en la final de lanzamiento de disco femenino durante las pruebas por equipos olímpicos de atletismo de EE. UU. el 27 de junio de 2024 en Eugene, Oregon. (Foto AP/George Walker IV, archivo)

2 of 4 |

ARCHIVO - Veronica Fraley compite en la final de lanzamiento de disco femenino durante las pruebas por equipos olímpicos de atletismo de Estados Unidos el 27 de junio de 2024 en Eugene, Oregon. (Foto AP/George Walker IV, archivo)

3 of 4 |

Flavor Flav gesticula antes de un partido preliminar del grupo B de waterpolo femenino entre Italia y Estados Unidos, en los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2024, el miércoles 31 de julio de 2024, en Saint-Denis, Francia. (Foto AP/Luca Bruno)

4 of 4 |

Flavor Flav gesticula en el escenario de la casa de Estados Unidos en los Juegos Olímpicos de verano de 2024, el jueves 25 de julio de 2024, en París, Francia. (Foto AP/Luca Bruno)

By PAT GRAHAM

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Vanderbilt’s discus thrower and Olympian Veronica Fraley lamented on social media that she needed help paying the rent.

Hip-hop artist Flavor Flav and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian decided to help.

Soon after Fraley posted on the social media platform, X, that she was in need of financial assistance, Flav, founding member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy and a big fan of USA Water Polo, responded: “I gotchu.”

Right on top that, Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and husband of tennis star Serena Williams, wrote: “Got you!” He followed through, too, by posting a picture of paying $7,760.00 and writing, "’Murica.”

In her post, Fraley alluded to the fact that her school pays about 75% of her rent while “they pay football players (who haven’t won anything) enough to buy new cars and houses.” She added three “thumbs-down” emojis. The Commodores football team went 2-10 last season, while Fraley won the NCAA discus title this season, set the school record and earned a spot on Team USA at U.S. Olympic track trials.

She also started a GoFundMe page that has raised $18,787 of her $20,000 goal. She appreciated the gesture of Flav and Ohanian and wrote: “THANKYOU & @FlavorFlav SO MUCH. This makes every difference in the WORLD & I hope to represent team USA well this week.”

Fraley went through the qualifying round Friday night, but didn’t earn a spot into the discus final.

Paris Olympics

The Olympics are more than fun and games. They’re a billion-dollar business with political overtones.
Breakdance will make it’s debut as an Olympic sport in Paris.. Here’s what else will be different at this year’s games.
Follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.

Flav is in Paris as part of his duties as the official hype man for USA Water Polo — a partnership that came together after he connected with U.S. captain Maggie Steffens on Instagram in May.

Fraley made sure to point out in a later post that her criticism wasn’t with Vanderbilt.

“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,” she wrote. “That’s all I’m sayin.”

In a statement, the school said: “Vanderbilt is committed to supporting our student-athletes as they pursue their full potential. We provided our student-athlete Veronica Fraley with the maximum financial aid consistent with NCAA regulations. We also help our student-athletes navigate name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities, acknowledging that these are completely separate and independent of the university by NCAA regulations and state law.”

The statement went on to congratulate Fraley on not only her “many athletic accomplishments but also for completing her courses to attain her master’s degree,” the school said. “It is exciting that a Vanderbilt graduate is representing the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games.”

___

AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this story.

___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

1 of 7 |

FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

2 of 7 |

FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

3 of 7 |

FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

4 of 7 |

Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

5 of 7 |

USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

6 of 7 |

Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

7 of 7 |

FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)