New York’s only women’s track and field competition features Olympic champions, musicians and lucrative cash prizes

A track and field meet in New York on Thursday night will be unlike any other, with lucrative prize money, big-name performers, silver crowns for the winners instead of gold medals and a all-female domain.

Another victory for women’s sport.

Recently crowned Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas and society are helping athletics take a big step forward by participating in the first Athlos Athletics Competitionwhich brought together some of the fastest women in the world.

For them to even get to the starting line, an assist goes to Alex Morgan and the rest of his 2019 World Cup-winning U.S. soccer team. Another assist for the basketball stars Caitlin Clark And Angel Reese Also.

Because Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband of Serena Williams, was told that no one watches women’s sporting events.

He disagreed. This led to the launch of Athlos, which will distribute more than $500,000 in prize money and share 10% of all profits among the athletes. There will also be a performance by Grammy Award-winning singer Megan Thee Stallion.

“We’re outsiders to the sport of track and field, so we come at it with a pretty humble approach. Our number one priority is to do right by these athletes,” Ohanian said of an event at Icahn Stadium that will be funded by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm he founded. “I don’t want to trivialize this, but one of the biggest reasons women’s sports have been held back is simply underinvestment. But now it’s become too valuable to ignore.”

“Yes, everyone watches women’s sport and now it’s just a question of which one.”

For hurdlers Alaysha JohnsonA women’s-only meet seems like the perfect way to cap off a long season that includes Diamond League races, the U.S. Olympic trials and the Paris Games.

“It makes us feel like we’re on the cutting edge,” Johnson said. “It’s all about us.”

Athlos, a Greek word meaning “athlete,” will feature the 100, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 hurdles. The event will be broadcast on Platform X, YouTube and ESPN-plus, with a replay on ESPN2 over the weekend.

Among the big names entered are reigning Olympic champions Thomas (200), Masai Russell (hurdles), Marileidy Paulino (400) and Faith Kipyegon (1,500).

“I was in the elevator with (other athletes) and I thought, ‘Wow, look at us. We’re really making an impact,’” said Johnson, who reached the Olympic final in the 100m hurdles. “People believe in us, they put their money and their money behind us. It shows that we’re valuable in this sport.”

More money on the track

Nowadays, money is being poured into athletics:

— Sprint the great Michael Johnson has entered space with Grand Slam Track, which will host four races per year starting in 2025, with prizes of $100,000 for the best.

— World Athletics announced the First Ultimate Championships will be held in Budapest in 2026 and will showcase the best of the best in sport.

— The Diamond League, annual athletics seriesplans to increase its gender equality prize money next season, with total prize money per discipline ranging from $30,000 to $50,000; and in the finals between $60,000 and $100,000.

Ohanian believes there is room for Athlos as well. He thinks this meet can be a starting point, with $60,000 going to the winner. with a crown designed by Tiffany & Co.

Flashback to 2019: Ohanian found himself in a social media firestorm when he mentioned how underrated women’s sports were following the U.S. women’s World Cup victory. and others responded with a basic message: don’t just talk about it, be the protagonist.

This led Ohanian to invest in Angel City FCa team in the National Women’s Soccer League.

“The reason I was so excited to start a (soccer) team is because I saw how popular these women were every four years and then disappeared,” Ohanian said. “It didn’t make sense to me. I thought, ‘There’s an opportunity here to make these stars visible year-round.’”

Another important factor: Clark and Reese’s popularity. Last April, Clark and his Iowa team beats Reese and LSU in the Elite Eight of the women’s team NCAA Tournamentwith an average of 12.3 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen. It was at the time one of the most-watched games in any sport other than the NFL over the past year.

“Female athletes, especially the younger generation, are getting a lot more attention,” Ohanian said. “It’s not consistent with how this has been invested in in the past.”

Assess interest in the track

About a year ago, more and more highlights from the race started appearing on Ohanian’s social media. One idea: to highlight female competitors. He chatted with a dozen athletes and asked some creative questions.

“I was trying to learn more about the sport,” he explained.

One of the first to raise his hand to get involved was Thomas, the Harvard Graduate Sprinter who won three gold medals in Paris.

“It taught me everything,” he said of Thomas’ immediate interest. “One of my favorite things about creating something was realizing how many times people would say, ‘Because that’s the way it’s always been done.’”

“Anytime you hear that as an entrepreneur, you get really excited. If you’re just doing things because that’s the way it’s always been done, that’s a really bad reason to do something. You want to do something because it’s actually the best way to solve the problem you’re trying to solve. We looked at Athlos from that perspective.”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games