. >> shot putters and first time olympian dorrell hill may not have made it to the final. >> it will be a day that i'll never forget. >> but for his biggest supporter, his dad, just being in rio to watch his son compete was a gift worth more than olympic gold. until last month, he had no intention of going. >> i had already made a decision, you know, to stay home, you know, not really go out of my way to try to get the money. >> that all changed when retired bus driver pick up passenger liz, in his uber car. hill told her that his son was competing in rio, but he couldn't afford to go. >> shared some information, she had a friend actually competing in the swimming, i told her about my son. >> you did her one better. >> yes. >> she has a friend competing and you have your son? >> that was awesome right there. >> living in chicago popping is today help. >> when he told me he couldn't go to the olympics in rio, i just wondered how i would feel as a parent of athlete. >> so set up a go fund me page, within days 152 people donated $8,200, to pay for hill's flight, and travel expenses. >>

bethlehem native, we've been talking about him and dorrel hill.qualifying for the men's shot put today. kovaks will compete tonight. nbc 10 at a watch party for the olympian this morning at his alma mater. his former coach told us how much dorrel's olympic experience has meant to his biggest fans back home. >> the good part about this is he's young. so he has at least two more olympics in him, you know. so we're proud of him. and he was a little worried yesterday. but that's what you expect out of a 22-year-old. >> reporter: his father, ellis hill, was able to make it to rio in time to see his son compete. the trip was made possible through the community that donated to his go-fund-me page. >>> are you noticing a trend on the track? what may have started a few decades ago is at a whole new level. take a look. for a lot of women in track and field, there is a new gold standard for that game face. it started with flo-jo, the fierce fabulousness fashion on display on the track. now 30 years later with more cameras, cell phones and internet posts, goi