Flavor Flav Steps In To Help U.S. Olympian Veronica Fraley Pay Her Rent After Viral Post

Veronica Fraley, a Vanderbilt University discus thrower and Olympian, found herself in an unusual spotlight this week after a social media post about her financial struggles caught the attention of two high-profile figures.

Fraley, who recently claimed the NCAA discus title and earned a spot on Team USA for the upcoming Olympic trials, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her frustration with her current financial situation. In her post, she highlighted the disparity between support for football players and other athletes at her school.

The athlete’s plea for help resonated with an unlikely duo: hip-hop icon Flavor Flav and tech entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian. Both promptly responded, offering to cover Fraley’s rent expenses.

Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and husband of tennis star Serena Williams, followed through on his promise by publicly sharing a receipt for $7,760, captioning it with a patriotic quip.

Fraley had previously started a GoFundMe campaign to address her financial needs, which has raised over $12,000 of its $20,000 goal. The unexpected celebrity intervention provided a significant boost to her efforts.

In a follow-up post, Fraley expressed her gratitude to both Flavor Flav and Ohanian, emphasizing the impact of their generosity on her ability to represent Team USA in the coming week.

Flavor Flav, currently in Paris as the official hype man for USA Water Polo, pledged his support for Fraley’s Olympic journey. The rapper’s involvement with water polo stems from a recent social media connection with U.S. team captain Maggie Steffens.

Fraley later clarified that her criticism was not directed at Vanderbilt University itself, but rather, with the rules for college athletes in general. She complained about restrictions on how athletes can make money from their fame. Fraley thinks these rules help popular athletes more than those who perform well in their sport.

Recent changes have allowed college athletes to legally be paid for their name, image and likeness.

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