As the inaugural edition of the women-only track competition, Athlos was a big success! Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian and his team managed to make this “the marquee track meet of the year.” Along with the superstar athletes, the presence of Megan Thee Stallion, DJ D-Nice, and a few others lit up the stage last year. Ohanian’s ambitions are big, and all the fans will now be hoping for something even bigger in 2025! And Serena Williams recently unveiled an interesting plan for the Athlos 2025. What’s it, though?

Previously, during an interview, the Olympic Champion Masai Russell who had also competed in the 100m hurdles in Athlos revealed how this mega event gave them the platform and brought them under the limelight yet again. Earlier on athletes used to get all the attention only during the Olympics, but now thanks to initiatives like these, things have started to change. Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian even reacted to Russell’s interview and assured her that time, “Don’t worry @masai_russell that’s just the beginning — y’all proved that ATHLOS needs to be even BIGGER in 2025. 😤“

Alexis Ohanian wanted women athletes to get the “spotlight they deserve” and the 2024 edition didn’t disappoint. The massive response in the previous edition has now pushed Serena Williams’ husband to dream of bigger things in 2025. For example, recently during an interview with Athlos, the renowned track and field sprinter from New Zealand, Zoe Hobbs was asked about who would she want to play her role in a documentary about her life.

In reply to this question, the 27-year-old athlete replied, “Zendaya would be really nice.” After hearing this the interviewer reminded her that since Zendaya has already tried her luck with tennis (Challengers), perhaps she might well be keen to run on track too. “I feel like it’d be pretty cool to be on Netflix,” said Hobbs. Soon after this interview went viral, Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian posted it on his IG handle with the caption, “First step is getting Zendaya to ATHLOS 2025… @zoe__hobbs I gotchu.“

For those who are unaware, last year the American romantic sports drama film, Challengers, made a massive roar in the tennis world. It was a hot topic of discussion for quite a few months. In that film, Zendaya played the role of the lead character, Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy who later turned became a tennis coach. The whole story revolves around a love triangle between Duncan, Patrick Zweig (her lower-circuit tennis player ex-boyfriend), and her tennis champion husband (Art Donaldson). As soon as this film was released, we saw several tennis stars coming up with their reaction to the same. Is Zendaya’s love for sports only restricted to tennis, though?

Zendaya is a big fan of Serena Williams, but do you know she has tried her luck in multiple sports in the past?

Zendaya’s craze in the tennis world got spiked up after this film. She was literally the talk of the town! However, you’d be surprised to know that her understanding of tennis was pretty minimal before this film. Her interests in the game mainly revolved around a few names. Who were they? “Serena and Venus [Williams] — that’s all I connected to. And probably Roger Federer,” said Zendaya in an interview. She was even trained by Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert for this film.

Her dedication and love for sports were reflected in this film. Talking about her love for sports, Zendaya once revealed that she actually used to be into sports since her childhood days. She used to play soccer and basketball in school and guess what? Zendaya even ran on the tracks during those days.

“I played soccer, basketball, and ran track before I told my parents I didn’t want to do sports,” Zendaya said in a previous interview. However, her father had an interesting dream for her. Speaking on that, Zendaya said, “My dad wanted me to be the first woman in the NBA.”

So, Zendaya’s popularity isn’t only restricted to the tennis world though. Several other superstars from different sports are often seen highlighting her multi-talented nature. For example, during a previous fun interaction, the American track and field athlete Courtney Wayment was asked to name a celebrity with whom she could race in her event. In reply to that question, she named the multi-talented, Zendaya.

Interestingly, Wayment represents Roger Federer’s On Running and in June 2024, Zendaya also signed a multi-year collaboration with this renowned Swiss sportswear company. So, not only in tennis but even in the track and field world, Zendaya has a massive fan following. Do you want to see her at the 2025 Athlos?