The Story Behind Why Flavor Flav Became the Hype Man for the US Olympic Water Polo Team

If it’s one thing Flavor Flav knows how to do, it’s steal the show! The Public Enemy hype man is making headlines after fans noticed his unwavering support for an unexpected sport at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Although it’s not on everyone’s radar, the niche sport of water polo continues to dominant the professional world. The U.S. is the only non-European team to win a gold medal for water polo in Olympic history. This year, the U.S. is looking to add to the seven medals they received for the men’s team and the three consecutive gold medals from the women’s team, according to the NCAA.

In early May, team captain Maggie Steffens announced on Instagram the water polo team would need a little more support to achieve their dreams in Paris. She called on fans to help both financially and patriotically saying. “Many of my teammates aren’t just badass champions, but also teachers, business owners, coaches, physicians assistants, and more.” She continued, “most Olympians need a 2nd (or 3rd) job to support chasing the dream (myself included!)”

After seeing Steffens’ post, hip-hop legend Flavor Flav was quick to answer her call.

The 65-year-old hype man replied “AYYY YOOO,,, as a girl dad and supporter of all women’s sports - imma personally sponsor you my girl,,, whatever you need.” Flav went on to add “And imma sponsor the whole team... imma use all my relationships and resources to help all y’all even more.”

After making what he called “a FLAVOR FLAV promise,” Flav connected with the team and pledged to become their official hype man. Just a few weeks later, Flav signed a five-year deal with the U.S. women’s and men’s teams to “elevate the visibility and excitement surrounding water polo in the United States,” according to the official statement.

Since then, the rapper has been flooding his social media in support of the sport. He even practiced with the women’s team before joining them in Paris to make TV appearances and speak at a press conference on their behalf.

Captain Steffens called Flav’s co-sign a “total blessing” during a press conference. She continued saying “he has really opened up the door and window to a pathway for people to learn our team.”

Flav has also shown his personal support for Steffens, who is grieving the recent death of her sister-in-law, Lulu Conner. While on the way to Paris to support Steffens, Conner unexpectedly died of a medical emergency, according to AP News. In a recent Instagram post, Flav flexed the custom clock made by Conner in preparation for the Olympics. He said in the post “imma be wearing a VERY SPECIAL second clock for the duration of the Olympics and beyond.”

You can expect to be seeing much more of Flav as the Olympics continue. Although the women’s team took an unexpected loss against Spain on Monday, both U.S. teams will continue to fight through August 5.