Rapper Flavor Flav and Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian help to pay an Olympian's rent

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As the track and field events kicked off at the Olympics on Thursday, one member of Team USA expressed her frustration online about not having her rent covered while in Paris.

Veronica Fraley, who is competing in discus throw Friday and attends Vanderbilt University, said the school covered the majority, but not all, of her housing expenses at the Olympics.

“I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent,” she said on X. “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.”

Fraley was this year’s NCAA discus champion, SEC Field Athlete of the Year and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She also holds the Vanderbilt records for discus and outdoor shot put, according to the university’s website.

By early Friday morning, her post garnered nearly 16 million views and the attention of Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who both offered to chip in and pay her rent.

“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,!!!” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer posted.

Flavor Flav has been a steadfast presence at this year’s Games, as he lent financial support to the U.S. women’s water polo team and signed on as their “official hype man” for the next five years. The Public Enemy member additionally told Fraley he would try to make it to her Friday meet.

“Man of my word,!!! This is what I been saying and promoting with water polo,,, I can’t fix everything on my own,,, but right now I am,” he added.

Ohanian interjected after a user tagged him.

“C'mon now! I'll split it with @flavorfav,” he said.

He later posted a screenshot of a transaction showing a withdrawal of $7,760.

“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,” Flavor Flav added. “Now that tweet been seen by 10 MILLION people,, her rent paid off for the year,, and people gots her back!”

In follow-up posts, Fraley thanked people for their support and began a GoFundMe page for other potential donors.

“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 [name, image and likeness] which favors popularity over performance,” she said. “that’s all I’m sayin. Wish me luck [tomorrow]!”

NPR has reached out to Vanderbilt for comment.

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