London (AFP) – London is to host a star-studded all-women Athlos track and field meet on September 18 as founder Alexis Ohanian builds towards his dream of “a F1 for track and field.” Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, has added London to the meeting in New York, which is in its third year and takes place a fortnight later. The London event will take place at the 10,500-capacity stadium of English rugby giants Saracens in Barnet.
Athlos is owned entirely by Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, which has assets of $900 million (£670m) — but athletes will receive equity in the league if the competition succeeds. The athletes, who include 2023 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and 2024 Olympic 200m winner Gabby Thomas, will compete for a prize pot of $2.1m (£1.5m). Athletes can earn up to $65,000 in each individual event, while overall champions will receive an additional $25,000, meaning an athlete winning in both cities could pocket $155,000.
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“I’ve long been very obsessed with this ‘F1 for track and field’ analogy,” Ohanian told the BBC. “We come to expect the fastest cars in the world to tour the greatest global cities, and for people to come out and watch and celebrate this excellence. I envision Athlos to be a version of that and, as we grow this league, I’d love to add more cities and make Athlos truly global.”
Unlike American track legend Michael Johnson’s failed Grand Slam Track series, Ohanian is treading more cautiously. After adding its London event in 2026, Ohanian’s ultimate aim is to create a worldwide, season-long league and says he has been in discussions with the sport’s governing body and “great partners” World Athletics. “I’m at a very fortunate place in my career in my life where I don’t want to do anything small,” said Ohanian. “I want to do things that have big impacts, that are about legacy. Ultimately we want to build a league around athletics, which historically has not had commercial success. This is a big moment for us.”
Seven disciplines will be contested in both London and New York — the 100m hurdles, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, mile, and long jump — with an athlete’s combined points determining the overall event winner. Thomas, who dreams of one day running a hospital, said Athlos can inspire younger versions of herself to take up the sport. “We get a share in what we’re helping to build and that’s really rare in this sport,” the 29-year-old American told the BBC. “How can we fail as a league when we have the athletes as partners and helping to build it? We know the sport better than anyone.”
“When a young girl watches me race, I want them to see a sport where women are treated with respect and with the economics that we’ve always deserved, and have something to aspire to.” Ohanian — who sold Reddit for $10 million in 2006 and has since made a fortune in other investments — has long been a supporter of women’s sport. The 43-year-old American invested in Los Angeles-based Angel City FC in 2019 and five years later it was sold to Walt Disney Company’s chief executive Bob Iger for $250 million. Last year he invested $27 million in buying 10 percent of Women’s Super League football team Chelsea.
© 2024 AFP
