Flavor Flav, celebs help Raleigh, NC Olympian pay rent as she begins discus competition
Vanderbilt discus thrower and Raleigh native Veronica Fraley has done it all.
She holds school records in the discus, outdoor shot put, indoor shot put and the hammer throw. Fraley earned a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic trials, is a two-time qualifier for the World Championship, the 2024 NCAA discus champion and now an Olympian.
What the 24-year-old can’t do? Pay rent.
On Thursday, the Wakefield High School and Clemson graduate took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her frustrations. She also posted a link to Go Fund Me for outside donations to support her journey.
“I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent,” Fraley wrote in a post also marked by emojis. “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.”
Rapper Flavor Flav and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian are among the few strangers who have chipped in.
“I gotchu,,, DM me and I’ll send payment TODAY so you don’t have to worry bout it TOMORROW,” Flav replied Thursday on X. “And imma be rooting for ya tomorrow LETZ GO,!!!”
Ohanian quickly followed suit and replied to Flav with an offer to split the cost of Fraley’s rent. Only a few hours later, Ohanian posted a screenshot of the $7,760.00 transaction and wrote, “’Murica.”
Only a month ago, Flav made headlines when he signed a five-year sponsorship deal to be the official hype man of USA Water Polo Women’s and Men’s National Teams. In doing so, he made a significant financial contribution to the 2024 USA Women’s Water Polo Olympic Team.
Across the country, Flav was praised for his contribution to the team and now, he is receiving even more applause for his immediate support of Fraley.
In less than 24 hours, Fraley’s Go Fund Me has raised $15,776 through anonymous donations and support through social media. On Friday, a few hours ahead of her first competition in Paris, she posted an encouraging message on X.
“Also paid my rent this morning,” Fraley tweeted.
Her throwing in qualifying round competition, however, wasn’t good enough to keep her in medal contention. Though Fraley’s personal best was 67.17 meters, her best throw on Friday was 62.54 and she was not among the 12 athletes who advanced to Monday’s finals.
Maya Waid is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 1:37 PM.