Gabby Thomas or Sha’Carri Richardson? Well, the debate might finally be put to rest! As the track community continues to ponder which of these stars is superior to the other, venture capitalist and tennis icon Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian has arrived with his own take on the matter. With that, the Reddit co-founder is determined to put an end to the comparison.

In a recent post on X, Ohanian sought to make his stance on the Thomas-Richardson debacle clear. Sharing a post by The Erin Brown, which asked track connoisseurs whom they would pick among Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri to promote their brands with limited funds, Alexis made it clear that either of the athletes could be chosen for the task without throwing any shade at the other. “The only correct answer is BOTH,” Ohanian said not mincing words, and cutting right to the chase.

After Thomas’ triple gold success at the Paris Olympics, Ohanian is set to pump over $100,000 cash prize on the Harvard graduate to follow up on the promise he made ahead of the Games. “And to the 36 women running my @athlos NYC event Sept 26 for a record-breaking top prize of $60K—I’ll also pay you $60K if you win a gold medal here in #Paris2024💪.” As things stand, Gabby Thomas won three gold medals at the recently concluded Paris Olympics, so that brings her earnings to a whopping $180,000!

And yet, it looks like he understands perfectly well that discounting Sha’Carri isn’t the way to go either.

Alexis Ohanian for one, is never shy to empower women, and in particular, female athletes. His ambitious project Athlos (Previously 776 Invitational) is anticipated as the tournament that will revolutionize women’s sports with its massive prize pool. With more than $30 million in investments already secured, the upcoming event, set to occur on September 26, will offer $60,000 to the winners, with $25,000 going to the runner-up and $10,000 to the second runner-up. The prize money is miles above what the Diamond League pays in its final event—$30,000 for the winner, $12,000 and $7,000 to the second and third-placed respectively.

Ohanian’s efforts will act as a massive boost for track and field events, which is notorious for underpaying athletes. One such heartbreaking incident recently came to light when US discus player Veronica Fraley, admitted her trouble paying rent on social media:“I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent. My school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven’t won anything) enough to buy new cars and houses.” Shortly after she posted about the ordeal, rapper Flavor Flav and the Reddit co-founder came forward and paid around $7,500 each.

In the light of such incidents and the benevolent prize purse, track fans are naturally eager to see how things pan out for the athletes participating in the tournament. Gabby Thomas was among the first stars who were named to the roster for the Athlos event. Along with that, the reigning women’s 100m world champ Sha’Carri was also rumored to appear in Ohanian’s tournament later this year. While Alexis will justifiably bear the flags for both the stars for being part of his project, Thomas herself also seems to have had enough of the drama.

Gabby Thomas is up for looking beyond the hubbub

The neurobiology Harvard graduate Gabby Thomas took to the social media platform TikTok to bury the old hatchet once and for all. Referring to how fans are scrambling their heads as to which of the two runners is the better athlete, Gabby ascertained that hailing one of them doesn’t mean dissing the other. “Just a friendly reminder that you can uplift one woman without bringing down another,” she wrote in her video upload while sporting an ignorant look on he face as if noting her disenchantment of proving her worth over her national teammate’s.

For context, the feud between Thomas and Richardson arose when the two put forward their differing opinions about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Being banned from the Games three years ago because of THC traces found in her blood sample, Sha’Carri urged her fans to boycott the Tokyo Games. Gabby Thomas responded, without taking her colleague’s name, how “there are so many black athletes who have put in YEARS of hard work for this moment” and will feel heartbroken without the fans cheering for them.

Later, Richardson also hit back in a now-deleted tweet, writing: “Athletes that haven’t and will never beat me have a lot to say about or surrounding my situation. When most of them have said nothing to me showing their characters that y’all don’t see behind the races. The attention that is on track now and was because of very very few names. So if that’s where fans support lay, you can’t be mad at that.” But all of this is in the past!

The two came together just days ago at the French capital where they joined hands to bring Team USA gold in the women’s 4x100m relay race. After their victory, the duo was seen embracing each other in a tight hug, underscoring how they’re willing to put the entire thing behind them. And now, as Alexis Ohanian looks to put his foot down on the issue, how do you think Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas can bolster their camaraderie? Share in the comments below!