Gold medalist Ashleigh Johnson, Flavor Flav seek to bring water polo to new audience

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SAINT-DENIS, France — Ashleigh Johnson knows that when one thinks of water polo, they typically do not think of Black athletes, and they definitely do not think of rappers. 

But along with her new No. 1 fan, Johnson is trying to change that. 

Johnson, widely considered the best goalie in the sport, saved 10 of 14 scoring attempts from Greece as the Americans cruised to a 15-6 win Saturday in the first game of women's water polo pool play at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Team USA’s Jenna Flynn led all scorers with four goals on six attempts at the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

The Americans are going for their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal with an unusual new hype man in 65-year-old rapper Flavor Flav. And yes, you read that right.

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Flav, who bragged Friday about scoring on Johnson when he hopped in the pool with the U.S. women for a crash course in his new favorite sport, has signed a five-year sponsorship deal with both men’s and women’s teams. He was poolside Saturday decked out in red, white and blue, his water polo cap in place and his (waterproof) clock necklace the flashiest accessory in the crowd. Surely he loved the Americans’ 7-0 start, a dominant overall performance that coach Adam Krikorian described as “as good of a fourth-quarter game as we’ve played in some time.” 

Perhaps it was the influence, and presence, of Flav? Johnson is open to any and all possibilities as it relates to the sport’s newest ambassador. 

“Yes, he’s a little bit out of the (normal water polo demographic),” Johnson said, laughing. “But I was on TikTok the other day and I saw his team posted the video of him with our team — and it was all kids commenting. They’re learning who he is and learning who we are, and I think the confluence of both of us inspires a new interest in both of us.”

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For years, Johnson has been the only Black member of water polo’s senior national team. Since being named to her first Olympic team at the age of 21, she’s become an outspoken advocate for more diversity it not only her sport, but all water sports. 

“I don’t think people of color have had adequate access to aquatic spaces, and you can see it in the way our sport looks, see it in the way swimming looks,” she said. “It’s not representative of the U.S. in terms of diversity. One of the biggest barriers for people of color in water spaces, not just water polo, is the story that they don’t belong here. So talking about it and saying you do, seeing a man who’s a rapper, who’s not even part of this space get so passionate and invested in a team like ours, I think is life changing. 

“I think that’s one of those things that breaks down a barrier.” 

Flav agrees, saying he doesn’t consider water polo a sport that belongs to just one group of people. 

“I think by me jumping in the water with Ashley, it can probably enhance more Black people to play water polo,” he said. “Not too many Black people are playing it right now.”

Recently, Johnson attended the youth football game of a family friend. She was struck by how unifying the sport was. 

“The way the Black community comes around football, that’s what I want around water polo,” she said. “Not everyone plays, but everyone loves it, everyone has someone in it and belongs there. It felt like, you step in and you’re part of the (football) family. 

“That’s what I want water polo to feel like for people of color.” 

The Olympics, she said, are the perfect platform to grow the sport. Add in a rapper who has more than 800,000 combined followers on his various social media sites, and there’s no telling what might happen. Johnson is ready to “re-write the story” of water polo. 

“I’ve already seen ripple effects,” she said. “The jokes that have come out of it, the humor, the enjoyment, that’s super cool. The pool isn’t somewhere that we’re scared or don’t belong; it’s somewhere we have fun, somewhere we come together, where we cheer, we support.” 

And … we rap? 

Yes, Johnson said, she is absolutely fine with Flav working up a new song that involves a mention of his score on her. 

“I’m pushing for that,” she said. “Pleas make that a song lyric. I would love it.” 

Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell