By Chris Chavez
March 12, 2025
ATHLOS, the women’s-only track and field meet, will return to Icahn Stadium in New York City on October 10, 2025. The high-energy event hopes to build on its inaugural success with even bigger competition and entertainment. It has received early commitments from Olympic gold medalists Gabby Thomas, Masai Russell, Marileidy Paulino and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
“The moment I stepped into Icahn last year, it was immediately apparent that we had to do it again—somehow even bigger. The appetite, the atmosphere, the energy—it was obvious,” Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian said in a statement released on Wednesday morning. “The reception from the athletes, fans, and broader public was beyond what we could have imagined. I can’t wait for everyone to hear what surprises we have in store for 2025.”
Background
– Last year, ATHLOS made an instant impact on the track calendar and attracted top talent by offering the largest prize purse ever for a women’s-only track meet. $663,000 was awarded in prize money across 35 athletes – with $60,000 going to the winner of each race. 200m Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown was the biggest winner of the day and earned $85,000 for 33.13 seconds of racing via a runner-up finish in the 100m ($25,000) and 200m ($60,000).
Last year’s event also blended elite competition with music and fan engagement by including a DJ set throughout the night and a live performance by Megan Thee Stallion. Winners were given crowns designed by Tiffany & Co. Custom bibs were designed for the female torso.
The 2024 event was streamed on X, YouTube, ESPN+, DAZN and ESPN2 and was widely viewed. CITIUS MAG had its first all-female pre-race show on-site hosted by Serenity Douglas, two-time World Championship medalist Talitha Diggs and two-time Olympian and Jamaican record holder Aisha Praught-Leer.
You can rewatch the full 2024 meet here:
“Every move we made was in response to either asking the athletes what they wanted or deciding they deserved better, ” ATHLOS chief marketing officer Kayla Green said in a statement. “For 2025, we really want to raise the bar on what the event can be. Last year was a wonderful place to start, but we have much more in store.”
– The meet received great praise from the 25 athletes competing and appeared to have nearly sold out Icahn Stadium’s 5,000 seat stadium. You can read CITIUS MAG’s full review of the inaugural meet here.
– Ohanian, who recently joined Frank McCourt's bid to buy TikTok's U.S. operations, previously teased the idea of expanding ATHLOS into other cities. At the moment, only one meet has been announced for 2025.
– No word yet on whether this year's event will include field events. Last year's meet featured the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m.
Takeaway
– The long 2025 outdoor season just got longer. Before 2024, most athletes would close out their season with the Diamond League final or 5th Avenue Mile in early September. As World Athletics shifts to make the World Championships the end of the season to create “a clear season climax”, we’re looking at more seasons potentially finishing in September. Add in the Diamond League’s 15 meets and Grand Slam’s four three-day events in April, May and June and then national championship windows and it’s hard to find days on the calendar that don’t already conflict with other meets.
However, even though last year’s Sept. 27th meet felt late, the stars showed up to get paid. Money talks. Last year's meet took place two weeks after the Diamond League final. This year's meet takes place 19 days after the conclusion of the World Championships in Tokyo on Sept. 21st.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and on Feb. 15th, 2025 finally broke five minutes for the mile.
