Sha’Carri Richardson To Compete in Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian’s 776 Invitational? New Preview Teases Big Stars

With an “aim to elevate the profile of female athletes and create a more inclusive and equitable sporting landscape,” Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder and tennis icon Serena Willams’ husband) partnered with 2X Olympian Gabby Thomas to launch the 776 Invitational. Boasting 6 times the payout of Diamond League, the 776 is already making waves! And with a recent Preview release, things just got even more interesting.

Joining the ranks of staunch advocates for the empowerment of women athletes is none other than Sha’Carri Richardson. “Our voices are very important to make everybody understand that women are strong and powerful,” stated Richardson after partnering up with Danone. Recently, Alexis Ohanian shared a preview of the launch of the Invitational, which will be held in September. And featuring along with Gabby Thomas and Julien Alfred was Sha’Carri Richardson, making multiple appearances in the preview video, signalling a star-studded affair in the making.

In his recent Instagram post, Ohanian shed more light on what the 776 Invitational brings to the table. “We’re building a must-see must-attend flagship competition for women in track,” noted Alexis in the post. “Mark my words, the 776 Invitational is gonna make history.” Read the caption of the post.

It also declared, “We’re hosting a female-only event to unite the fastest women in the world in competition,” highlighting the fact that it will offer “the largest prize purse *ever*” and “There’s nothing else like it.” The accompanying clip features Sha’Carri Richardson heavily, along with Gabby Thomas, the latter being a significant part of the tournament since its announcement. Along with that, Julien Alfred is also visible in it. The clip naturally raises anticipations about which athletes are likely to show up for the $60,000 winner’s prize.

Richardson has been very vocal about the less glamorous side of the sport. In 2023, Richardson drew attention to a similar issue affecting athletes under Team USA, Alleging that they do not receive financial support from funds designated for players. “Do not donate. The athletes that need this money don’t see it.” In alignment with Richardson’s cause, Ohanian’s 776 Invitational also aims to address this issue by offering the largest ever purse for a women-only competition ($60,000; $25,000; and $10,000 for the three consecutive winning spots).

Only days ago, Ohanian stood firm in the 2023 World Championships gold medalist’s corner, defending her actions from 2021, which got Richardson disqualified from participating in the Tokyo Olympics. While the entry list isn’t confirmed yet, it won’t be too far-fetched to believe that Ohanian’s support for Richardson’s troubles found him a new ally, and the two might be well on their way to taking women’s track events to the heights where it should loiter around. But women’s track and field isn’t the only sport that rings Ohanian’s bells, either.

Ohanian’s vision for women’s sports: Sha’Carri Richardson could tip the scales

In 2022, the venture capitalist invested heavily in the female-majority-owned Angel FC. This came after deciding with wife Serena that the only way their daughter Olympia would go on to play in the World Cup was if she got the same pay as the male stars. While the American women’s soccer circuit isn’t too shabby in terms of popularity, the payment gap continues to make things tense. And Alexis is determined to shake things up.

“Women’s soccer, in particular, I believed was tremendously under-resourced, under-marketed, undervalued, underappreciated, under-supported, the list goes on…I saw it first and foremost as a tremendous business opportunity,” sounded his words in an interview two years ago. However, now he has similar thoughts about women’s track as well.

Reflecting upon Richardson’s struggles made Ohanian think more about the issues persisting across sports, and women’s track was no different. “At some point, I was like, wait, this is just like women’s soccer. I was like, ‘How is this is a sport people only care about in America once every four years?’ It doesn’t make sense,” stated Ohanian in an interview recently.

On April 22nd, Ohanian took to his X handle to announce that his 776 Foundation will be investing in The Sports Bra to support its expansion. The chain of bars and restaurants is based in Portland and is quite popular for broadcasting women’s sports on its TVs. In the video featuring himself, Alexis mentioned, “All the bars I ever walked into were only showing exclusively men’s sports,” and that was exactly what he knew he needed to change. 

This focus on women in sports and being vocal to wipe out the pay disparity is something that Sha’Carri Richardson also stands for. With Ohanian’s efforts to make women’s sports more popular, the 776 Invitational might be just the stage to show that women are equally capable of making their mark in the sporting arena. As the Paris Olympics is wrapping up by August, Sha’Carri could well become the poster child for the ambitious tournament’s inaugural edition.