Ice hockey star Laila Edwards is set to make history with a little help from NFL star Travis Kielce.
Edwards is the first Black woman on Team USA’s women’s hockey team, and Kelce is helping make her Olympic dreams a reality at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy.
Making it onto an Olympic team is an incredible feat that takes talent and years of hard work, but once you nab a coveted spot, there are still hidden costs that put pressure on athletes. That’s where the Kansas City Chiefs’ star player comes in.
Edwards told People that Kelce donated funds to help her family afford the flights and hotels so they could make it to Milano Cortina Winter Olympics to cheer her on in person.
"They've helped out with my family's GoFundMe to go over there and support me," she said. "My family put up a GoFundMe, and [Travis] donated... he's been in touch a little bit on how else he can help.”
Kelce isn’t the only celebrity to support Olympians. Public Enemy rapper Flava Flav went viral at the Paris Olympics when he became the official sponsor of the U.S. women’s water polo team, and this year he will be supporting the bobsled and skeleton teams.
Before donating money, Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, hyped up the history-making female athlete on their popular New Heights podcast, since they all grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
"When I first made the national team, they shouted me out on their podcast for being the first Black woman to play on the team," she said.
When she followed this up by reaching out to the brothers on social media, she didn’t expect anything to come from it, but they surprised her.
"I thought, 'I'll just message them, thanking them, they'll never see it,' " she explained. "And then Travis and I had a full conversation over DM, and that was super cool... he was a really down-to-earth, humble guy who was super supportive and had really good things to say.”
She added, "They shouted me out again recently for making the Olympic team!”
Conor McDermott-Mostowy@conor.mm/Instagram