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NEW YORK — Speed kills. But it doesn’t come cheap.
At least not at Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos, the first big-money women’s track meet from the Reddit cofounder. The venture capitalist and serial women’s sports investor plunked down top dollar to draw some of the world’s best runners to New York City weeks after they would have normally ended their seasons.
The six races on Randall’s Island on Thursday night featured a total prize purse of $663,000. They also took just seven minutes, 49 seconds in total, meaning Ohanian spent more than $84,000 per minute that runners were on the track.
In fact, Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six probably spent a bit more than that. It had to time and operate the meet, cover travel and lodging for the 36 women who came to New York, and likely cover the production costs for the meet broadcast, which was simulcast on YouTube, X, DAZN, and ESPN+. It also had agreed to pay back 10% of revenue—not profit—to the 36 athletes who competed. Spokespeople for Athlos and Seven Seven Six would not say how much the meet ultimately cost, but any reasonable estimate easily runs into the single-digit millions.
And that’s without accounting for the fees for Megan Thee Stallion and D-Nice. The charismatic rapper performed a 30-minute set after the final race, while the DJ spun in the 20-minute intervals between races.
Whatever it cost, though, Ohanian said he was ready to keep plowing money into the sport.
“We’re absolutely doing this again next year,” he told assembled media before the racing kicked off Thursday night.
The women competing were pleased with the event, and understandably. Winners Faith Kipyegon (1,500 meters), Brittany Brown (200m), Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith (100m), Marileidy Paulino (400m, cheered on by a significant Dominican contingent), Tsige Duguma (800m), and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (100m hurdles) each earned $60,000 for their wins Thursday. Brown added a runner-up finish in the 100 to pull down a cool $85,000—more than 10% of all the prize money awarded Thursday night.
But most runners interviewed said they enjoyed more than just the paychecks.
U.S. 1,500-meter runner Cory McGee, who finished fifth in her race and therefore earned $5,000, said she was impressed with the whole operation.
“I’ve raced in nearly every Diamond League that there is,” she said, referring to track’s longstanding premium circuit. “And sure, people get picked up at the airport, and it’s super detailed and meticulous. But not as detailed and meticulous. They really thought about everything.” Several athletes said a Wednesday event with Serena Williams’s beauty company was a major highlight. (Williams and Ohanian are married.)
Track meet promoters are notorious for taking weeks or months to pay athletes their expenses and winnings. McGee said that Athlos covered those costs up front, handing every athlete vouchers for spending and transportation.
There were lumps. It took at least half of the meet for the in-house DJ and announcers to stop drowning each other out. An interview with Shonda Rhimes was largely inaudible in the stadium. (Rhimes was among several celebrities at the event, including soccer player Ashtyn Harris and actress Lupita Nyong’o.) And hurdler Masai Russell was irate after a fumbling start in the 100 hurdles. “I want to protest because as anyone can see, there was a lot of flinching going on at the starting line,” she said.
It’s the money, though, that ultimately will attract the best athletes, and therefore track fans in what organizers hope is greater numbers than the sport has been able to reach outside of the Olympics. About 90% of seats of the 5,000-capacity Icahn Stadium were filled, according to organizers.
Several athletes, including Alaysha Johnson and U.S. sprinter Alexis Holmes, said it was the most they had ever earned in a single night of racing.
Johnson and Holmes both finished second in their races and won $25,000. Johnson said she would save the money, while Holmes said she would spend it on a trip. Holmes ran the 400 in 49.99 seconds and joked that “one lap around the track for $25K” was “everyone’s dream.”
Johnson was pleased to see the blue-chip sponsors that Athlos reeled in, including Toyota and Tiffany & Co., which produced crowns for each of the six winners. “To me, that’s what’s most important—bringing in companies that we wouldn’t normally be a part of, that wouldn’t normally be a part of track and field, and exposing them to something this amazing.”
The most accomplished athlete at the meet, and possibly the one who needed the $60,000 the least, was Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon. The 30-year-old has three Olympic gold medals and world records in the women’s 1,500 meters and mile. Kipyegon—in an interview briefly delayed while she privately met with Megan Thee Stallion—said that she was drawn to New York by the opportunity to compete in an all-women’s meet.
“I was running for the money,” she added, laughing and making it clear she was joking. But it didn’t hurt, either. “That $60,000 was just amazing,” she said. “Being awarded so much money is just incredible. I think it was my first-ever event to be awarded a lot of money like that.”
Kipyegon has likely earned more from contract bonuses for her world records, but the point stands. The Diamond League, for example, has paid $25,000 for first place in recent years, which is increasing to $30,000 to $50,000 next year. “At other events, we are normally getting less than that,” she said. “To be running a women’s-only race and get $60,000 is just huge.” All told, the event marked a major victory for Ohanian and Gabby Thomas, who was clearly surprised and disappointed after her upset loss to Brown in the 200. The Olympic gold medalist closely collaborated with Ohanian in the creation and development of the event.
She had neatly summed up the pre-2024 state of money in track and field in a tweet last year. “In track & field if you lose a meet,” she wrote, “you go home with debt.” She may have lost Thursday night, but she still went home with $25,000.
