"Can't help but look at some of these stars like Tara Davis-Woodhall"- Alexis Ohanian already thinking of Athlos NYC's "phase 2"

Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, has shared that he is already considering ways to include star athletes like Tara Davis-Woodhall in phase two of Athlos NYC. Notably, the first edition of Athlos successfully concluded at Icahn Stadium on September 26.

At the Athlos NYC women’s exclusive meet, only track events featured, with 36 athletes competing in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and 100m hurdles. The World Athletics Continental Tour silver meeting provided the athletes with an overall pool prize of $663,000.

Notably, the USA’s Brittany Brown, also the 200m Olympic bronze medalist, pocketed the highest cash prize of $85,000 from the event after winning the 200m and finishing as the runner-up in the 100m on the grand inaugural ceremony of the Athlos NYC. The night also featured a performance from American rapper and singer Megan Thee Stallion.

During his appearance on the Ready Set Go podcast, hosted by former sprinters Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green, Alexis Ohanian expressed his desire to expand the event and have the likes of Tara Davis-Woodhall compete. He said (starting 15:46 onwards):

“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 and think, God we got to find ways.”

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Alexis Ohanian explains desire to bring athletes & their stories into limelight after watching Tara Davis-Woodhall and others

Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates her win at the Paris Olympics. (Photo via Getty Images)

During the same interaction, Alexis Ohanian also opened up on why he wants the meet to focus on the athletes and their stories to create a more engaging experience for the audience, rather than solely focusing on the competition, adding (13:40 onwards):

“I want to make them stars. So, I hadn't been to one [track meet] I did finally go to once, my first one in Eugene. So, I saw the qualifiers and that was incredible right. At the same time, I was like okay, 'this is so exhilarating.'"

"Then, I'm watching Tara who is so dynamic. Tara Davis-Woodhall, 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, as a sort of first timer, I'm torn between two storylines that I know I should be paying attention to now.”

He added:

“I realize that they [USATF] have an important job right. They got 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,” he added.

It is worth noting that Ohanian, who is also a co-founder of Reddit, has been a vocal advocate of women's sports.