July 16, 2026 - 1:47 pm

A portion of Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down Thursday night to celebrate over 100 Winter Olympians and Paralympians, as set up by rapper Flavor Flav and his SHE Weekend event.

What started out as a social media post in response to President Donald Trump making a disparaging remark about having to invite the women’s gold medal-winning U.S. hockey team to the White House blossomed into a weekend full of events at various resorts and a parade down the Strip.

It was a level of celebration and fanfare planned for female athletes that Alex Carpenter, a U.S. women’s hockey team member with three Olympic medals, said she has never seen.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen, or I’ve never experienced the celebration of U.S. female athletes of this magnitude before,” Carpenter said. “So it’s amazing to be a part of it, and we’re just so excited to be here.”

After the rapper’s social media post, the idea grew into a bona fide event, with MGM Resorts International, Delta Airlines and others offering to help make the celebration of women’s Olympians and Paralympians happen.

“Politically speaking, Donald Trump, my girls are going to get a way … better celebration than what you gave the guys,” Flavor Flav said Thursday while speaking with media. “My girls are going to be eating shrimp, lobster, steak, we’re going to be eating fish. We’re going to be eating everything, not McDonald’s.”

Having Flavor Flav in their corner is a big deal, said Hayley Scamurra, a U.S. women’s hockey player who also just signed to play with Las Vegas’ Professional Women’s Hockey League team.

“I think it’s just so surreal that we get to experience this and celebrate together, and it’s all for the women,” Scamurra said.

MGM officials said the company was happy to help accommodate the athletes and are making sure they have a great weekend, with everything taken care of by the resort giant and other event sponsors.

“It means a lot personally. It means a lot as a company,” Stephanie Glanzer, MGM Resorts chief of sales, said. “And I think for all of us that get to be a part of this, to watch these athletes that work so incredibly hard at something that some of them do from the time that they can walk on, and to show off their skill and be rewarded for it — that’s exactly why we want to celebrate them.”

The parade traveled down a short portion of the Strip southbound from just north of Park MGM, to Bruno Mars Way, leading the athlete procession to Toshiba Plaza outside of T-Mobile Arena. Fans celebrated the women there and took in a free concert headlined by Flavor Flav’s rap group, Public Enemy.

The Olympians also received keys to the Strip from Clark County officals. Clark County estimated that about 6,000 fans were in attendance for the Thursday event. The Raiders, Golden Knights and the Aces also took part in the parade, according to the county.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.