On a sweltering evening last week, parade buses wound their way through the center of Las Vegas, carrying female athletes who competed for Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. I watched a modest but enthusiastic crowd gather to cheer as the athletes waved at fans and family members, all against the backdrop of blaring music.
It was a much-deserved moment of recognition and celebration for a group of women who, with the exception of a few weeks every four years when the Olympics are underway, rarely find themselves center stage. In a very public manifestation of this, President Trump invited the men’s ice hockey team to the White House earlier this year to celebrate their gold medal,
snubbing the women, who also won gold, in the process.
Amid the backlash from women’s sports fans in response to Trump’s comments, the rapper and hype man Flavor Flav
posted on X that if the president wasn’t going to celebrate female athletes, he would. Fast-forward five months and here we all were (attendees included hockey’s Hilary Knight, skier Breezy Johnson, and snowboarder Brenna Huckaby) with Flav, as he is known, in Vegas doing just that at a three-day event called “Flavor Flav’s SHE Weekend.”
As The Athletic reports, that Flav, a man with a complicated relationship with the law—and women, is now positioning himself as a major women’s sports ally, is both unexpected and perhaps uncomfortable. He was front and center throughout the weekend, leading the parade, posing for professional photos with the athletes, and becoming teary onstage talking about how being “a girl dad” had triggered his appreciation of women’s sports. However, alongside this, the athletes in attendance were treated to fancy experiences (swanky dinners; a meet-and-greet with the Backstreet Boys) and hours of expert-led conversations about everything from the mental health toll of elite competition to personal brand building to financial literacy.
I was there representing Fortune MPW to moderate many of these discussions, and I was struck by how hungry for this information the athletes were. During a conversation about money-management, a Paralympic skier explained that, due to the USA being one of very few countries whose Olympic and Paralympic programs receive no direct government funding, she actually loses money to compete. (Team USA athletes are privately funded by sponsors, broadcast rights, and donations). In response, the panelists, all senior execs at major companies, offered to advise her personally and connect her and her teammates with potential sponsors. Another athlete wanted to know which questions she should ask of a company that she is thinking of investing in. Other questions spanned gender pay equity in brand deals, where to look for a great lawyer, and how to plan for life after retiring from competition. A number of companies present at the event offered athletes apprenticeships that they committed to fit around demanding training schedules.
Two things can be true at once: Flavor Flav is not a perfect ally, and he, along with his women-led team, went beyond lip-service to build an event that will likely result in female athletes getting more funding and opportunities. That cannot be said for many high-profile people who post online about being fans of women’s sports. Yes, the athletes who I met in Vegas deserve to be celebrated, but more than that, they deserve to be properly compensated for competing at the highest level for their country. One weekend can’t change a system, but if it results in even a handful of athletes getting the support they need, then it’s a win in my book.
Ellie Austin
ellie.austin@fortune.comThe Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’
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