FLINT, MI -- You may have seen her out running along Saginaw Street or shadow boxing in parking lots near an intersection in Flint as passersby snap photos or take video.

Flint's Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields is out training in the city for a run at standing atop the podium during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. She's also working on her trade at gyms in Colorado Springs, Florida and New York along the way.

The 20-year-old has set up a GoFundMe page, seeking donations to help with travel, food and training expenses. Shields said Wednesday afternoon, May 13, that "USA Boxing pays for some of it, but I still have to pay for food and travel, and that stuff gets expensive over a long time."

"I do a lot of traveling," she said.

She has fought five times this year, including a unanimous-decision defeat of Li Qian during the Clash of the Champions event in late April in Atlanta, Georgia.

"I'm only at home for two to three weeks at a time."

Ranked No. 1 in the country and the world in the middleweight class and already qualified for the 2016 Olympic trials, Shields is cranking up her training regimen in the gym, logging road miles, strength training and two gym workouts up to six days every week.

But when she climbs through the rope into the squared circle, there's some extra fuel that Shields uses aside from the work put in at the gym: the support of her city and country.

"I don't just fight for myself. I feel that Flint has so much bad news. I feel like I am a positive thing for the city," she said. "I always think about Flint, I always think about the people that donated and think the best for me. And I carry USA wherever I go. No matter where I go, China, Korea, wherever. I always carry USA and do the best I can."

Anyone who wants to donate can view the GoFundMe page here.