As the 2024 track season winds down for most athletes, a select group of the world’s fastest women are preparing for a new showdown. The most-awaited all-women’s track event is debuting this Thursday, i.e., on the 26th of September in New York City. With a groundbreaking prize purse of $500,000 (undoubtedly marking the largest ever for a women’s track event), Athlos is aiming to elevate the visibility of women’s sports. 

And with 3x Olympic gold medalist from the Paris Olympics, Gabby Thomas, headlining the event the significance of Athlos extends beyond the race itself. Spearheaded by tech mogul Alexis Ohanian’s firm, 776, the meet aims to challenge the status quo of compensation in track and field. In a recent conversation with Citius Mag, Gabby Thomas unraveled how important the Athlos Track meet is, not just for herself but for the evolution of women’s sports as a whole.

Thomas stated, “This is bigger than myself and it’s bigger than this race. It’s bigger than just the six of us lining up.” Acknowledging how this event would make waves both on and off the track for women athletes, she added, “It’s really about what we’re doing for women’s sports.” Women’s sports, for quite a long time, has been the arena that often struggles for the spotlight outside the Olympics. The Athlos meet is indeed a collective effort to challenge long-standing inequities and raise the profile of female athletes. 

The inaugural meet would feature Gabby Thomas alongside some of the best sprinters in the world, including Torrie Lewis, Jenna Prandini, Tamara Clark, Brittany Brown, and Anavia Battle, all vying for a piece of the historic prize. While victory is the goal, Thomas emphasizes the broader impact, saying, “It’s not lost on us.” 

After returning from the Paris Olympics with 3 coveted gold medals, Gabby Thomas has been looking forward to Athlos and has been gearing up to create history in the debut year of the track event. “My muscles know what to do, my mind knows what to do”, stated a confident Thomas. She further stated, “Being deemed one of the fastest women in the planet is very surreal”. And Thomas is making sure to not let go of the tag easily.

While she has already been a supportive voice for the women’s track meet alongside Ohanian, she tried to further highlight what makes Athlos special. “Athlos definitely feels like an event where we, as female athletes, have some ownership. We have some say”, shared Gabby Thomas. 

Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos aims to uplift women’s sports, driven by the desire to make women’s sports worth it for daughter Olympia.

When Gabby Thomas was eyeing the Olympic gold, Ohanian made a promise. He took to X and made a statement, “Olympic Track & Field starts today (good luck, @vmfraley!) 🥇 And to the 36 women running my @athlos NYC event September 26 for a record-breaking top prize of $60K — I’ll also pay you $60K if you win a gold medal here in #Paris2024💪.” And Gabby made sure to make a dent in Alexis Ohanian’s pocket by grabbing the gold with ease and style.

However, Ohanian did not take minutes to acknowledge the win of Gabby and immediately stated, “And I owe her $60K for that Gold Medal Bounty🥇” Alexis Ohanian has always been enthusiastic about everything sports. He announced the track project to make the world a better place where women can flourish in athletics and get what they truly deserve. Ohanian dreams of witnessing his daughter Olympia represent her nation on the international stage.

But her mother, the tennis legend Serena Williams, interrupted to let him know that she won’t want that, “until they pay her what she’s worth.” This acted as the catalyst behind Ohanian planning to work for uplifting women’s sports. And from the way things have been panning out, fans can’t wait to make Athlos one of the biggest track events.