“I knew the American women had a legacy of excellence”- Alexis Ohanian on how his experience with Alex Morgan & Megan Rapinoe motivated him for Athlos

Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and Serena Williams' husband, has been a vocal supporter of women's sports, and over the last few years, he’s worked to create more opportunities for female athletes. Most recently, he took on the world of track and field, and he’s now speaking about what motivated him to engage with the sport.

Ohanian first stumbled upon the market that women's sports offered in 2019, during the football World Cup. Since then, he's gone on to invest in Angel City FC, an NWSL team.

In 2024, the 41-year-old announced that he was expanding his horizons and would be venturing into the world of sprinting with the introduction of 'Athlos,’ the first-ever women-only track meet.

Featured Session: Empowering the Next Generation to Build a Better Future - 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals - Source: Getty

Recently, in an appearance on Justin Gaitlin’s ‘Ready Set Go’ podcast, Alexis Ohanian spoke about his experience with football and how big names like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe were the reason he was intrigued by the sport, only to find out they got no attention in the four years outside of the World Cup.

“When I keyed into women's soccer in 2019 it was because the World Cup was happening, I already knew a couple of the big stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe even though I didn't watch the sport. I knew the American women were excellent, they had a legacy of excellence. And I knew that I paid attention to them when the World Cup was happening and then they disappeared for the next four years. That galvanized me to ask them the questions like - ‘why does this happen’, ‘is there a professional league’."

Alexis Ohanian went on to explain that his experience with track felt similar. He stated that he found himself hearing of famous athletes like Sha'Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas, and was motivated to create an event for them based on his experiences with Morgan and Rapinoe.

“I found myself feeling deja vu because here I was, I had these track stars that had popped up in my consciousness who had transcended the sport, like Sha'Carri (Richardson) like Gabby (Thomas). We had the Olympics coming up, where again I knew I was going to be paying attention to track and field, especially women's track and field, where there is a legacy of greatness and excellence. So I'm thinking ‘well damn okay, seems like this is all over again’, let me talk to these ladies and find out what's missing."

---

Gabby Thomas heaps praise on Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos

Athlos NYC - Source: Getty

Since the beginning of Alexis Ohanian’s journey to launch a women's only track meet, the American has found support in 200m Olympic Champion Gabby Thomas. Thomas has been vocal in her encouragement of the meet and how it was organized, and was an integral part of the event throughout the planning stages.

After the completion of the debut version of Athlos, the sprinter heaped praise on the event, taking to X to write,

“Every track meet needs to be like Athlos. End of discussion.”

Outside of Thomas, various other track and field athletes spoke out in support of Alexis Ohanian’s event, including 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles, 200m Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown, former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, Olympic Champion Aaron Brown, and many more.