ATHLOS, the women’s-only track meet started by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, will be expanding to a team-based women’s track and field league with multiple meets in 2026.

Olympic gold medalists Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall will serve as advisor-owners.

“Gabby, Sha’Carri, and Tara represent a new generation of athletes who have put this sport on their shoulders and deserve to be compensated for being the standard-bearers,” Ohanian said in a statement. “We were focused on bringing them into the League as founding owners to ensure we’re building a League that our athletes will love.”

Here’s what you need to know:

– ATHLOS says it will shift to a team-based model “designed for and by athletes, tailored to a modern fanbase” and will have multiple meets in different cities after the conclusion of the World Athletics season. The 2026 season will end with the World Athletics Ultimate Championships on Sept. 11-13th in Budapest. Not all events will be featured at the Ultimate Championships. ATHLOS will also feature one final championship event.

– The professional track and field calendar in 2025 was primarily occupied by the addition of four Grand Slam meets from April to June and the Diamond League also has 15 stops from April through August. With World Athletics Continental Tour meets and then national championship windows, it can be challenging to find space on the calendar for a multi-leg series.

– This year’s ATHLOS meet will take place on October 10th and returns to Icahn Stadium in New York City. (That’s also after the World Championships take place in Tokyo from Sept. 13th to Sept. 21.) Last year’s meet was in September and featured 35 athletes across six track events. In 2026, the meet is adding the women’s long jump and has confirmed Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall and Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Moore as headliners.

– Thomas, Davis-Woodhall, Masai Russell, Marileidy Paulino, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Brittany Brown have all committed to participating in this year’s event. When asked whether today’s announcement with Richardson means she will be competing in October’s meet, a spokesperson for ATHLOS responded with: “To be announced/determined. Right now, we are focusing on her path to league ownership and actively participating in the development of track and field. She’s obviously excited about ATHLOS’ impact, and she will be a part of this journey in many ways!”

– $663,000 was awarded in prize money at last year’s meet with the winners of each event taking home $60,000. The runner-up and third place received $25,000 and $10,000, respectively. Fourth place through sixth place earned $8,000, $5,000, and $2,500.

___________________

Keep up with all things track and field by following us across Instagram, X, Bluesky, Threads, and YouTube. Catch the latest episodes of the CITIUS MAG Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For more, subscribe to The Lap Count and CITIUS MAG Newsletter for the top running news delivered straight to your inbox.