Flavor Flav and Alexis Ohanian help Olympian Veronica Fraley pay her rent

Veronica Fraley is an Olympian who says she can't afford her rent. But after a viral post about her situation this week, several big names lined up to help, including rapper Flavor Flav.

What she's saying: " 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 👎🏾 👎🏾👎🏾," Fraley posted on X Thursday.

Catch up quick: The Raleigh native is a graduate student at Vanderbilt , pursuing her second masters degree . She's competing in the discus throw in her first Olympics appearance.

State of play: Fraley's post had garnered more than 11 million views on X as of Thursday afternoon, and it attracted the attention of Flavor Flav, who said he would cover the difference in her rent.

• "I'll send payment TODAY so you don't have to worry about it TOMORROW," the rapper posted . He followed through, according to subsequent a post .
• Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder, also responded, posting a screenshot of $7,760 sent to Fraley.

Zoom out: Flavor Flav became the " hype man " for the Team USA men's and women's water polo squads when he signed a five-year sponsorship deal last month to support the athletes both financially and in-person.

Between the lines: Fraley, who went to Wakefield High in Raleigh, posted a follow-up note to take the heat off of Vanderbilt: "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 NIL which favors popularity over performance. that's all I'm sayin. Wish me luck tm!" Fraley posted .

• Axios has reached out to Vanderbilt for comment.

The big picture: Fraley isn't alone in her financial frustration.

• Track and field will be the first sport to pay gold medalists, as Axios' Maxwell Millington reported . Some countries do pay medal bonuses during the Games, CNBC reports , but many athletes rely on prize money from competitions, appearance fees or sponsorships.
• Some athletes turned to Fan Fund on Grandstand, a platform designed to bring monetary support to Olympians. Fraley has started a GoFundMe .
• People like Flavor Flav, Ohanian and businesswoman Michele Kang are stepping into change the narrative. Kang, who owns NWSL team Washington Spirit, will donate $4 million to Team USA women's rugby sevens over the next four years.

What's next: Women's discus throw begins at 12:55pm ET on Friday, Aug. 2 with Group A, followed by Group B at 2:20pm. It will be broadcast on USA Network and Peacock. Fraley will throw in Group B.

• The final is 2:30pm ET Monday, Aug. 5. It will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock. Find the full schedule here .