London is to host a star-studded all-female Athlos athletics meeting on 18 September as founder Alexis Ohanian builds towards his dream of it becoming “F1 for track and field”.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, has added a London date prior 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 StoneX Stadium, the 10,500-capacity ground used by Saracens rugby union side in Barnet. It is also the home stadium of Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, whose athletes over the years have included Olympians Dave Bedford, Daryll Neita, Zharnel Hughes, Ashia Hansen, Natasha Danvers and Yamilé Aldama.
Athlos is owned entirely by Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, which has assets of $900m (£670m) – but competing athletes will receive equity in the league if the competition succeeds.
The athletes on board, who include the 2023 100m world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medallist Sha’Carri Richardson and Paris Games 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.
“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.
“We know we’re entering into something really ambitious. Ultimately we want to build a league around athletics, which historically has not had commercial success. This is a big moment for us.”
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.
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.
Ohanian – who sold Reddit for $10m in 2006 and has since made a fortune in other investments – invested $27m in buying 10% of Women’s Super League football team Chelsea last year.