Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian draws reaction from Boris Becker after special offer to 11-year-old athlete who won medals without shoes

Six-time Major winner Boris Becker has welcomed an offer made by Alexis Ohanian to buy running gear for an underprivileged athlete. Serena Williams's husband, Ohanian, is a serial entrepreneur and investor who has recently embarked on a campaign to bring women's sports to the fore in the US.

Once touted as the "Mayor of the Internet" by Forbes, Ohanian is the founder of venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, which invests in several diverse business areas, but principally, tech, IT and social media. Reddit founder Ohanian's most prolific area of interest, however, is sports.

Ohanian was responding on his X account to an X user who highlighted the plight of an 11-year-old athlete, Rhea Bullos, who won three gold medals despite not being able to afford proper track shoes. The X user wrote:

"This is Rhea Bullos, she's 11 and couldn't afford to buy sport shoes to compete, so she covered her feet with plasters and drew Nike logo on them. And guess what, she won 3 gold medals (400, 800 and 1500m)."

Ohanian's response was immediate and decisive. He asked to be put in touch with Bullos' family so he could buy her a season's worth of athletic gear as he wrote:

"Someone please put me @athlos in touch with Rhea's family. I'm gonna personally buy her all the gear she needs for a season."

Boris Becker, who is friends with Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, issued his one-word response to the news:

"Wow"

The Armenian businessman has a particular interest in women's basketball. He is known to have donated an undisclosed sum to the University of Virginia (UVA) women's basketball team and has promised further investment in the future.

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Alexis Ohanian is a major investor in women's sports despite being told he'd lose his money

2020 US Open - Day 6 - Source: Getty

Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams are also major stakeholders in Angel City FC, the girls' soccer team that plays in the National Women's Soccer League. Women's athletics is also on Ohanian's list, and last year, Seven Seven Six began the 776 Invitational event, which offered record-breaking purses to female track stars. Doubtless, young Rhea Bullos will be on Ohanian's radar as a future star of that event.

Ohanian appeared at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi to discuss his investment in women's sports. Afterwards, on his X account, he stressed how far female sports have come since he first invested five years ago:

"5 years ago, the default narrative from investors (and even some previous team owners) was that investing in women's professional sports was a fool's errand. How quickly times have changed."

The Armenian businessman and Serena Williams have given a clear commitment to female sports. They have the financial resources to speculate for the future, and with their daughter Olympia, 7, showing early signs of promise as an athlete and golfer, they have the personal incentive to do so.