US rapper Flavor Flav is dipping into sports again by turning his trade towards the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The Public Enemy star is sponsoring the American bobsleigh and skeleton teams and has installed himself as their “official hype man”, a role he’s performed with perfection in the past as a founding member of the Grammy winning collective.
For those not in the know, a hype man, is a hip-hop term for a backing vocalist and often used to describe a key supporter in sports.
Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., became infatuated with the sport during his visit earlier this week to the bobsleigh and skeleton training ground at the 2002 Olympic Track in Utah.
“The partnership is a blessing,” Flav said. “It’s cooler than Cool Runnings. It’s Coolest Runnings,” referencing a movie about a group of Jamaican athletes on a quest to compete in the bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
But if Flav felt like a fish out of water, he certainly didn’t look like one. At the track, he insisted on trying his hand at skeleton. And when the officials recommended he start his run lower down the track due to safety concerns, he demanded a much higher starting position. On his second run, he reached a speed 10kmh, only 20kmh slower than what elite athletes reach during competitions.
“I was kind of upset at how good he was. It’s a sport that takes a lot of skill, but he made it look straightforward,” commented U.S. skeleton athlete Dan Barefoot on Flav’s performance.
But this is not Flavor Flav’s first foray into sports patronage.
At the Paris Olympics, he also took on the role of the personal hype man of the U.S women’s water polo team, but was also there when tennis player Billie Jean King was awarded her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He was also a big supporter of the Olympian discus thrower Veronica Fraley, making a contribution to the athlete when she announced her financial woes on social media.
Now, the rapper’s support is keenly felt around the camp, with athletes and staff loving the presence he brings to the camp.
“Oh my gosh, he’s one of the coolest, most adventurous men that I’ve ever met,” Dan Barefoot said.
Barefoot kept on waxing lyrical about the rapper, saying: “We have all been so hyped to have him with us. Put aside the fact that Flav is one of the greatest hype men of all time, the energy in the room … you had people who often aren’t talking to each other high-fiving and hugging because of the experience of being around him. There’s a lot of energy and a lot of confidence around us right now.”
Fans of Flavor Flav, the US bobsleigh and skeleton team, or both, will be able to see their efforts as soon as on the 6th of February next year, when the Milano–Cortina Winter Olympics officially begin.