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- Tamyra Mensah-Stock is the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling.
- As an American Olympian, she will receive $37,500 in prize money for taking first place.
- Mensah-Stock plans to spend her winnings on fulfilling her mother's dream of owning a food truck.
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Tamyra Mensah-Stock, the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling for Team USA, said she plans to spend the majority of her $37,500 prize money on a food truck for her mom.
In an interview with People magazine on Friday, Mensah-Stock, 28, said her idea of purchasing her mother's dream food truck started five years ago, but only became a reality on Tuesday after she won first place in women's Olympic wrestling.
"I made a promise to her and she loves cooking," she told People. "It's just one of her passions. Growing up, we'd be like, 'Ooh, mommy, you put your back into this food."
Mensah-Stock said she asked her mom: "So how about I buy you a food truck and you can be anywhere you want to be?"
"She's like, 'Yes, I would love that.' This is five years ago. And I just keep telling her, 'Just hold off, mommy, please just hold off,'" the athlete told the publication. She also said she and her mother already have a name in mind for the truck: "The Lady Bug."
Later in the interview, Mensah-Stock went on to discuss the pressures her mother faced after her father died. "She's always doing back-breaking work," she said. "I've just seen her struggling ever since my dad died and I don't like seeing it."
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According to a Yahoo News report, her father died in a car accident on the way home from one of her wrestling competitions while she was in high school.
Speaking to People magazine, Mensah-Stock said he would have been "ecstatic" to see her take home the gold at the Tokyo Olympics as he was always one of her biggest cheerleaders.
As per the award system Operation Gold, used by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), athletes who come in first place at the Tokyo Games receive $37,500. Silver and bronze medalists take home $22,500 and $15,000, respectively.
A 2020 global study of 491 elite athletes reported that 58% did not consider themselves financially stable for a number of reasons, including having to spend the majority of their earnings on hiring coaches and not receiving enough stipend from the government their representing.
In the United States, for example, most athletes lack funding from sponsors or endorsements. Speaking in an interview with Forbes in July, Zaileen Janmohamed, senior vice president, development and innovation of the US Olympic and Paralympic Properties (USOPP), said 60% of Team USA athletes make less than $25,000 a year.
Representatives for Mensah-Stock did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.