SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Vanderbilt discus thrower and Olympian Veronica Fraley complained on social media that she needed help paying the rent.
Hip-hop artist Taste Taste and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian decided to help.
Shortly after Fraley posted on the social media platform
On top of that, Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and husband of tennis star Serena Williams, wrote: “I got you!” He also followed this up by posting a photo of you 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 the U.S. Olympic track trials.
She also started a GoFundMe page that has raised $12,041 of her $20,000 goal. Appreciating Flav and Ohanian’s gesture, she wrote: “THANK YOU & @SmaakFlav SO MUCH. This makes a difference in the WORLD and I hope to represent team USA well this week.”
Flav said he’ll be rooting for her, adding, “LETZ GO,!!!” The rapper is in Paris as part of his duties as the official hype man for USA Water Polo – a partnership that came about after he connected with US captain Maggie Steffens on Instagram in May.
Fraley made sure to point out in a later post that her criticism was not aimed at Vanderbilt.
“Thanks for the supportive messages, but I want to make it clear that my irritation is not with the school itself, but mainly with the rules that prevent me from earning the amount I am WORTH as a collegiate athlete, such as NIL, which puts popularity over performance prefer,” she says. wrote. “That’s all I’m saying.”
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games