Flavor Flav to Be Official Hype Man at 2026 Winter Olympics

Flavor Flav is reprising his role as an Olympic hype man. He will bring his boisterous energy and unique confidence to the 2026 Winter Olympics as the official sponsor and hype man for the U.S. bobsled and skeleton team. Of course, this isn’t the Public Enemy rapper and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s first Olympic run. He served as the official sponsor and hype man for the U.S. women’s water-polo team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. That summer, images of Flavor Flav wearing patriotic versions of his iconic clock necklace and decked out in Team USA gear went viral online.

The news was announced on Monday morning. In an interview with The Associated Press, Flav said, “The partnership is a blessing … It’s cooler than Cool Runnings. It’s Coolest Runnings,” referring to the 1993 Disney movie based on the Jamaican bobsleigh team and their 1988 Olympic games debut.

Just before the news was announced, Flavor Flav spent time with the U.S. team at the Olympic track in Park City, Utah where he took on skeleton, the headfirst sliding sport, for the first time. It seems Flav’s charisma was instantly felt by the team. U.S skeleton athlete Dan Barefoot told AP how he and the team “have all been so hyped to have him with us.” Barefoot added, “Put aside the fact that Flav is one of the greatest hype men of all time, the energy in the room … you had people who often aren’t talking to each other high-fiving and hugging because of the experience of being around him. There’s a lot of energy and a lot of confidence around us right now.”

Even though the 2026 Winter Olympics will mark Flavor Flav’s second Olympic games, it still might sound left-field for the star to make an appearance in an official capacity. However, it’s something Flavor Flav has been open about pursuing. “If everything goes well, I’ll be doing this for the next five years into the next Olympics,” he told Rolling Stone in 2024, adding, “I might even do it for another five.”