With over 2 million views on the live broadcast on X, the first edition of Athlos NYC leaves a minuscule space to be questioned on popularity. However, the headcount in the hosting venue in the Icahn Stadium is yet to be made public. But according to Alexis Ohanian, the genius behind the contest, it must be more than 5000.

That marks another milestone achieved by the inaugural women-only track competition, held under the shelter of the iconic stadium’s concrete structure. Still, the founder refuses to take a break. Today, on X, Alexis Ohanian shared a snippet of him interacting with Tee in the corner of Athlos NYC 2024.

In the snippet, the entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian could be found amazed by seeing the full house in the rusty Icahn Stadium, to celebrate the women’s events. And this success has made him go on crossing the hurdles. In the same post, he hinted at it by adding, “We’re not done yet with @ATHLOS — we’ve just set a bar for yourselves that we need to EXCEED next year. Join us and keep raising these ladies up.” What’s inspiring is how Ohanian, the brain behind the event, positioned himself as an external agent while giving full credit to the women athletes as the true stars of the show. This humble mindset didn’t go unnoticed.

None other than Gail Devers, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, praised this vision. As a guest at the event, Devers shared a few motivational stories from her own career, but what really moved her was the atmosphere at Athlos NYC. Watching this level of support for women in sports, something that wasn’t as prevalent in her competitive years, left her feeling emotional.

That emotional high prompted Gail Devers to express, “We win gold medal, this is platinum. This is taking it a step above, I always say, what distinguishes is access and opportunity. So what Alexis [Ohanian] has been able to do with this meet in one night is give access and opportunity and hope to kids, to everyone… This is great.” Nothing less than a boost factor was that certificate. Apart from that, later, Brittany Brown admitted something big on X. 

In Athlos NYC 2024, Brown came out, bagging the highest prize money after snagging two podiums in both 100m and 200m events. She celebrated these big numbers by posting, “In 33 seconds I made some pro track and field athletes base shoe contract …Do you understand that ? Even if wouldve won both the  100 and 200 at the DL final I still wouldn’t have made the amount of money I made last night …INVESTMENT.” The subtle jab against the Diamond League caught Ohanian’s eye. He put a “smirking face” in the comment box. These gems might have moved the investor in such a big way. However, there were a few issues with the entire experience as well. 

Alexis Ohanian promises to come with better service 

Last night, Owen M, the track and field raconteur, gave his honest opinion regarding the inaugural edition of Athlos NYC. There, he mentioned the lack of a translator for the non-English-speaking athletes in the contest. In fact, the issue complicated the post-match conversations of Marileidy Paulino and Tsige Duguma, the two champions of their events. This disparity could be detrimental to the theme of the contest, as Owen M mentioned in his X-post, tagging Alexis Ohanian. Meanwhile, Ohanian, who also happens to be Serena Williams’s husband, appeared in the comment box. 

The entrepreneur showed his gratitude for bringing the issue to him. Subsequently, he promised to solve it in the next edition. Therefore, Alexis’s comment ‘not done yet’ seems to be fitting for the situation. However, he may also think about the questions Masai Russell evoked yesterday. After her 100m hurdles event, the Olympic champion made an allegation of a wrong judging system in the said event. The issue has yet to be addressed by the officials.