Many American athletes and their families resorted to GoFundMe to make it to Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — There is the table tennis player who didn’t get enough financial support back home. The discus thrower who couldn’t make rent. The badminton player who needed help to continue her journey to Paris.

Several dozen athletes have used crowdfunding to help pay for their costs to prepare for the 2024 Olympics and compete in France, with GoFundMe saying more than $2 million was raised worldwide in the run-up to the Games.

American discus thrower Veronica Fraley raised more than $23,000 on GoFundMe, with most of the donations coming after she posted on X that she couldn’t pay her rent and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian and rapper Flavor Flav decided to help, attracting more attention — and more funds — to her cause.

Badminton player Jennie Gai got nearly $22,000 to help in the preparations for her mixed doubles participation in Paris.