The New York crowd erupted with joy after a roaring success of Alexis Ohanian’s first-ever Athlos, a women-only track and field meet in 2024. Now, a different part of the world is set to experience it, as Athlos crosses the Atlantic for its debut in London with even bigger stakes. Athlos stood out right away, not just because of the record prize, but also for the rivalry featuring athletes like Gabby Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson, and more.

Alexis Ohanian confirmed Athlos will expand into a two-meet format for 2026. The season will open in London on 18 September before heading back to New York for the final stop on 2 October. The London meet will be held at the 10,500-capacity StoneX Stadium, home of the English rugby team Saracens, and also used by the Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers in Barnet.

The stakes are rising this year. Prize money for 2026 has jumped to more than $2.1 million across two meets, up from $663,500 in 2025. Each meet will now pay around $155,000 per event, with $65,000 going to each winner.

“I’ve long been very obsessed with this ‘F1 for track and field’ analogy,” Ohanian told the BBC. “We come to expect the fastest cars in the world to tour the greatest global cities and for people to come out and watch and celebrate this excellence. I envision Athlos to be a version of that and, as we grow this league, I’d love to add more cities and make Athlos truly global,” he explained.

The attention now turns to the athletes already linked with the 2026 season. Top stars like Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Masai Russell, and Marileidy Paulino are all expected to compete.

Alexis Ohanian aims to avoid repeating Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track mistakes

Michael Johnson’s vision for the Grand Slam Track was bold when it was launched in 2024. It was designed as an international track league which could have run beside tennis or Formula 1, four “Slam” meetings throughout the season. The first full season followed in 2025, with meets planned across cities like Kingston, Miami, and Philadelphia, while Los Angeles was meant to host the finale.

But as the season progressed, pressure started to build. A major turning point came in mid-2025 when a key investor reportedly pulled out after the early events. Soon after, reports surfaced of delayed prize money and appearance fees totaling millions.

In total, unpaid amounts were widely reported to be around $13 million. At the same time, the schedule also started to shrink. The Los Angeles Slam was cancelled, and the original four-meet format was reduced as the league tried to stay afloat. Things took a turn for the worse in late 2025, as the league was undergoing financial restructuring. The amount of money owed was estimated at $10 million to $50 million, and vendors and creditors were awaiting payment.

In that context, Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos is structured differently, and he’s doing his best to avoid the pitfalls that dogged Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track. Athlos is not trying to grow too quickly, but rather more slowly and deliberately. 

Ohanian, who is married to Serena Williams, has also made the long-term vision clear. “I’m at a very fortunate place in my career in my life where I don’t want to do anything small,” he said. “I want to do things that have big impacts, that are about legacy. Ultimately, we want to build a league around athletics, which historically has not had commercial success.”

Athlos will have seven events for the 2026 meets: 100m hurdles, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, mile, and long jump, with points determining the overall winners. As London gets added to the list of places with events, the emphasis is now on building strong, lasting foundations rather than fast ones.