“I had never been to track meet before” -Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian opens up on watching Olympic Trials & finding inspiration for Athlos

Reddit co-founder and Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian is on a mission to reinvent women's sports, and track and field is the latest event to catch his attention. Recently, he opened up about his first experience watching an athletics meet live, and how that helped him shape the Athlos track meet.

Ohanian has been a staunch advocate of equal opportunities for women in sports. In 2020 the American invested in Angel City FC, a soccer team in the NWSL. Now, the entrepreneur has turned his attention to women in track, despite not knowing a lot about the sport just six months ago.

In a recent appearance on Justin Gaitlin’s ‘Ready Set Go’ podcast, Alexis Ohanian revealed that the 2024 U.S Olympic Trials in Eugene was the first time he atten ded a live track and field meet. He explained that the experience was ‘overwhelming' given the sheer number of athletes and events present.

“I had never been to a track meet before and then I went to my first one in Eugene. I saw the (Olympic) Qualifiers and so that was incredible right. I was like ‘okay this is so exhilarating’, and then I'm watching Tara (Davis-Woodhall) who is so dynamic, she's such a star and she has her section of the stadium all gassed up for one of her jumps but at the same time there's like a race going on. And as a casual sort of first-timer, I'm torn between two storylines that I know I should be paying attention to.”

Alexis Ohanian added that while he understood the necessity for the Trials to contain multiple events in a short period, he soon realized he could create a platform to highlight individual athletes and their stories.

“I realize they (U.S Olympic Trials) have an important job right. They (have) to cycle through a ton of incredible athletes over a number of days to figure out who goes to the Olympics. Their ‘why’ is different from ours right. We get to curate and say much more specifically ‘okay let's just reimagine this whole thing’ starting first and foremost with how do we create the best platform possible for these individual athletes because they themselves (are) the stars.”

Alexis Ohanian on the future of Athlos track meet

The debut version of the Athlos track meet was an incredible success. The event drew praise from athletes and audiences alike, putting on an enthralling show throughout the evening.

However, Alexis Ohanian is already focused on the next big thing. On the same podcast appearance, the entrepreneur stated this was just phase one, saying,

“I feel like we're on to something but obviously still a lot more to do. I can't help but look at some of these stars like Tara (Davis-Woodhall) and think ‘God we got to find ways’ we're still phase one. But then I'm already thinking (about) how phase two goes.”

“Because I don't ever want to half ass anything. I'm at a point in my career where I only want to be spending my time doing really exceptional big things with great people. So the plan from the start with Athlos was more than just one event, but we're trying to underpromise and overdeliver here,” he added.

Alexis Ohanian's Athlos meet was appreciated by many athletes, including Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown, Noah Lyles, Aaron Brown, Justin Gaitlin and more. The event was certified silver on the World Athletics Continental Tour and boasted the biggest prize money ever seen in a track event.