Vandy discus thrower Fraley falls just short of qualifying for Olympic final

Vanderbilt’s Veronica Fraley on Friday fell just short in her attempt to qualify for the final of the women’s discus competition at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Fraley’s longest throw of her three attempts was 62.54 meters, which was 13^th-best in the competition. The top 12 of the 32 listed participants moved on to the final.

Fraley’s final two attempts were 62.30 meters and 60.95 meters.

It was the first Olympics for the 24-year-old Fraley, who was the 2024 NCAA discus champion in her second of two years at Vanderbilt. She won the NCAA competition with a throw of 63.66 meters. Fraley competed for Clemson from 2019-21 before transferring to Vandy.

A first-team All-American in 2024, she was also voted the 2024 SEC field athlete of the year. Fraley finished third at the U.S. Olympic team trials with a throw of 62.54 meters.

Fraley drew plenty of headlines Thursday, when she posted on social media that she was having trouble paying her rent back home in Nashville.

“I compete in the Olympic Games [Friday] and can’t even pay my rent,” Fraley wrote on `X’. “my school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven’t won anything) enough to buy new cars and houses.”

Fraley’s comments drew the attention of rapper/reality show star Flavor Flav and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, who took care of her rent issues. She thanked both on social media.

Fraley also followed up her original post, saying her frustration was not intended to target Vanderbilt, but “mainly the rules that bar me from making the amount I’m WORTH as a collegiate athlete such as NIL.”

On Friday, Vanderbilt issued a statement saying the school did everything it could to support Fraley financially.

“Vanderbilt is committed to supporting our student-athletes as they pursue their full potential. We provided our student-athlete Veronica Fraley with the maximum financial aid consistent with NCAA regulations. We also help our student-athletes navigate name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities, acknowledging that these are completely separate and independent of the university by NCAA regulations and state law. We congratulate Veronica not only on her many athletic accomplishments but also for completing her courses to attain her master’s degree. It is exciting that a Vanderbilt graduate is representing the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games. Our coaching staff in Paris, along with the entire Vanderbilt community, are cheering for Veronica as she competes on the world stage.”

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.