PARIS — Flavor Flav stopped for hugs, handshakes and high-fives as he made his way around the Team USA House at the Paris Games on Thursday.
He never stopped smiling.
“This is quite an experience for me right now, you know, because the only time I've ever seen the Olympics was on TV,” Flav said. “You know what I’m saying? But I always wanted to see what it felt like being there. So now I got the opportunity to be here. It's the best."
Flav, a founding member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy, is in Paris as part of his duties as the official hype man for USA Water Polo — a partnership that came together after he connected with U.S. captain Maggie Steffens on Instagram in May.
The 65-year-old Flav is embracing his new responsibilities with his usual brand of seemingly boundless enthusiasm.
“I’m so ready, man. ... I’m so hype right now about this sport," said Flav, wearing a custom USA Water Polo clock around his neck. “I wish I was playing it. I’m hyping myself up right now to ask them to let me on the team.”
The road to Flav's Olympic debut began when Steffens posted on Instagram about her experiences with the U.S. women's program, which has won an unprecedented three straight gold medals going into Paris.
While paying tribute to her teammates and expressing her love for her grueling sport, Steffens also highlighted the constant financial struggle for most Olympic athletes. Flav’s manager brought the issue to his attention, and he promised his assistance in a comment on Steffens' post.
“As a girl dad and supporter of all women’s sports - imma personally sponsor you my girl,,, whatever you need. And imma sponsor the whole team,” Flav wrote.
That exchange turned into a unique sponsorship deal between Flav — whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr. — and USA Water Polo. Flav made an undisclosed financial contribution to the women's program as part of the five-year agreement, and he also agreed to collaborate on social media to help bring attention to the small sport.
He is planning to attend the Olympic openers for the U.S. women and men. The women face Greece on Saturday, and the men play Italy on Sunday.
Flav, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Public Enemy in 2013, prepped for his Paris experience by attending two women's games, even joining the TV broadcast. He also jumped into the pool with the women's team.
“I tried it. I got to try it to see what it feels like,” Flav told the AP. “And boy, I was in the water with the girls for like seven minutes. And I was treading water for seven minutes. And I’m not going to lie. But that was like the hardest seven minutes in my life.”
Flav said he “got lucky” and connected on two goals against Ashleigh Johnson — widely considered the best goaltender in the world — though he felt as if she might have let him score.
The significance of the moment was not lost on Johnson, the first black woman to play water polo for the U.S. Olympic team.
“We saw the video come out (on social media). ... It was so cool to see it,” Johnson said. “But I read through the comments and I see people asking questions about water polo and people of color wanting to start playing. And that’s a different community than I’ve seen talk about our sport in the way they were talking about it than I have like this whole time I've been on this team.”
That is something Flav hopes to see more of as he continues to cheer on the U.S. teams.
“When it comes down to water polo ... it's not really about people of color. It's about people that love to play it,” he said. “Water polo is for all races, all colors of people.”