The track and field community has been racing through some turbulent times lately. This time it is not the future of athletes like Gabby Thomas in question but the future of sports itself. The recent shift of the Diamond League to FloTrack’s exclusive and pricey platform has left athletes and fans worldwide feeling the pinch. But hold onto your running shoes, because Alexis Ohanian, the tech entrepreneur and Serena Williams’s husband, has thrown in a lifeline.

Athlos, Alexis Ohanian’s latest venture, aims to inject some hope into track and field events. He recently took it to X and wrote, “Everyone watches women’s sports, but too often their games are broadcast on small networks with no promotion or behind expensively paywalls. For @athlos, we’re going BIG—AND ACCESSIBLE.” The spotlight is evidently on Athlos, and rightly so.

The Athlos NYC is an exclusive women’s track meet that is bringing the heat to Icahn Stadium on September 26th. The event will see 36 fierce female athletes participating across six different races. It has everything, ranging from the 100m to the 1500m. To top it all off, the event will see a performance by Megan Thee Stallion and beats by Derrick “D-Nice” Jones to keep the vibes high. The winner will also have one of the biggest cash prizes in history with $60,000. And if that’s not enough, the inaugural event will see Gabby Thomas, Faith Kipyegon, and Alexis Holmes, amongst others, in their peak form.

Alexis also posted a video featuring some of these women athletes. In the same video, he went on to say, “I’ve got some exciting Athlos news. We are ready to announce our broadcast partners. We heard you loud and clear. We are broadcasting on YouTube, X, ESPN and DAZN. In fact, we’ll be rebroadcasting the race on ESPN 2 on Sunday. So, no matter what, you will be able to access all the excitement.” He’s not just talking the talk. He’s walking the walk too. The truly exciting part about this is the level of accessibility Athlos is offering. He is walking the line of commitment to broaden the appeal and reach of track and field. This move couldn’t have come at a better time for the community.

A step ahead to silence the noise?

Fans and athletes have been voicing their frustrations over the latest moves by the Diamond League. One of the prominent voices during the upheaval has been sprinter Noah Lyles. “I wish FloTrack offered more money to host the Diamond League domestically. That’s how they got it,” said Lyles. It’s important to note his concerns about maintaining balance and financial viability.

But Lyles wasn’t the only one. Gabby Thomas also weighed in. “I’m most critical of decisions like that because it does eliminate visibility and there is a pretty big paywall behind watching our track meets now…Paying $30 a month to watch a track meet is not reasonable for a lot of people, to be completely honest……,” added Gabby. She emphasizes heavily here, much like Lyles, on the high subscription fees imposed by FloTrack. “This might be the worst news I’ve heard from the diamond league since… ever.” This fee could potentially deter new fans and limit the growth of the sport.

But the saga of chaos in the track community doesn’t end there. Add further fuel to this fire; track legend Carl Lewis also had some things to say. “I’m not a fan of the Diamond League,” he wrote on X. Lewis has taken it to X on multiple occasions to call out the current system, which he believes has been polluted by “collusion and lowering athletes’ control and pay.”

It is after a long silence and long rebellion that this step of Athlos arrives. As the Diamond League faces mounting criticism, the recent initiative by Alexis offers a lifeline. Athlos could be on a journey to set a new standard in the broadcast and consumption of track and field races. The future of sports hangs in the air; ventures like these could very well be the only solution.