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The celebrities that have come out of the woodwork to loudly and proudly support Team USA have been such a highlight of the 2024 Olympics. But two of those celebrities made actual magic happen on Thursday after seeing a social media post from Team USA discus thrower Veronica Fraley.
Fraley, 24, is a student athlete at Vanderbilt, and she posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) about her financial situation, which is unfortunately a common one: despite being a world class athlete who is about to compete at the Olympics, she can’t afford rent.
I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent 😒 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 👎🏾👎🏾👎🏾
— Veronica™⚓️ (@vmfraley) August 1, 2024
Fraley put her thoughts into words and sent those words to the internet. Most of the time when you do that, nothing happens (or at least nothing good). But this time, a good soul who saw her tweet tagged Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and rapper and enthusiastic Team USA supporter Flava Flav. Both are in Paris to watch the Games, and both saw her plea. They both pledged to help her.
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,!!!
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) August 1, 2024
And just as promised, they both came through.
Just DM’d you,,, I gotchu
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) August 1, 2024
The internet can be a cold, mean, damaging place, but today the internet had its arms wide open and was ready to enfold Fraley in a great big digital hug. Her mentions and replies are now filled with hundreds upon hundreds of people sympathizing with her, wishing her well, and asking where they can contribute to help her and others like her.
Flav, whose emotional and financial support of the women’s water polo team has been wholesome and inspiring, found the perfect way to sum up the entire wonderful situation without making the money the center.
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.
Now that tweet been seen by 10 MILLION people,, her rent paid off for the year,, and people gots her back!
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) August 1, 2024
Millions of people have now seen Fraley’s story, and are more aware of how hard it is to be an Olympian when you’re not actually at the Olympics. She’s gained an incredible number of new fans, who will be cheering her on in person and on their couches when she goes for gold next week.
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