Alexis Ohanian is proving, yet again, that he’s much more than a business mogul—he’s a dedicated husband, a loving father, and an unwavering advocate for women’s sports. The Reddit co-founder has consistently demonstrated his commitment to empowering female athletes, and his latest venture, Athlos NYC, is another shining example of his efforts. The event not only highlighted the strength and determination of women in sports but also revealed the athletic side of Ohanian’s daughter, Olympia. Now, with Serena Williams’ motivation fueling him and Olympia’s growing love for sports pushing him even further, Ohanian is ready to take Athlos NYC to new heights.

Ohanian and Olympia were seen spending quality time together at Athlos NYC, a novel women-only track and field event, which can rightly be termed the brainchild of Ohanian. The event featured several captivating pictures of the father-daughter duo, and it also revealed Olympia’s athletic side, as she was seen running on the track and field. While many might have anticipated Ohanian would take a break after the successful campaign, the Reddit co-founder is pumped up to start working on the second phase of the event.

Taking to his X account, the 41-year-old reshared an August 16 post by his wife, Serena Williams. In the post, the legendary player was seen promoting the event. Sharing a video of her husband giving details about the event, Williams wrote, “Have you heard about this @athlos ? @alexisohanian does it again. The biggest supporter and advocate of women’s sport now bringing the biggest check to women’s track.” Now, this past motivation seems to be fueling the ‘Business Dad,’ as he is motivated to take the event to new heights.

Resharing the post, Ohanian wrote, “She told ya 😎 Get ready for @ATHLOS PHASE II,” signifying that he is equally dedicated to the next phase of the event, which in itself is a special initiative. For those unfamiliar, Athlos NYC is funded by Alexis Ohanian, and this lucrative event featured races including 100m hurdles, 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and 200m. But the most intriguing feature of the event was its prize money, which gained plenty of attention. 

The event offered an unprecedented $60,000 prize for first-place finishers in every event, $25,000 for second place, and $10,000 for third. Furthermore, Athlos NYC also pledged to distribute 10% of all the event revenue among all the competitors. Now, Ohanian seems ready to bring back the event with even more enthusiasm, and it is not the first time he talked about the second phase. 

Speaking on the October 4 episode of the podcast “Ready Set Go,” Ohanian opened up about the future of Athlos NYC. “I feel like we’re on to something… but obviously still a lot more to do, and I can’t help but look at some of these stars like Tara and think, God, we got to find ways, uh, for… I don’t want to,” he shared. “But obviously still a lot more to do… We’re in phase one… I’m already still thinking like how phase two goes,” Ohanian added hinting that there are more exciting surprises in the making. But, what has been Ohanian’s motivation behind this grand initiative?

Did Serena Williams and Olympia inspire Alexis Ohanian to invest heavily in women’s sports?

Alexis Ohanian always dreamed of witnessing his daughter bring pride to her nation on the international stage. However, his wife, Serena Williams, doesn’t want her daughter to get into any sports “until they pay her what she’s worth.”  These factors likely motivated the business mogul, with the prize money of Athlos NYC granting women athletes what they have deserved for years.

Ohanian has often highlighted that women’s sports suffer from under-investment. According to him, “The silver lining of women’s sports being so underinvested was that they were so easy to invest in. You can try anything you want. There is no way that things have been done before.” He also believes that his wife, Williams, plays a massive role when it comes to female athletes and has helped him bring female sports closer to par with their male counterparts. But it’s not just Williams who fuels Ohanian’s motivation.

Even Olympia helps her father be motivated for women’s sports. During an interview with On Her Turf earlier, Ohanian revealed, “A big part of the reason why I started Angel City FC was because Olympia was running around, this is 2019 in an Alex Morgan jersey.” For now, it will be interesting to see what new surprises the next edition of Athlos NYC brings and how Alexis Ohanian reveals them.