Athlos was supposed to hit a brand-new stride in 2026. Back in May, co-founder Alexis Ohanian outlined an ambitious 2026 expansion, building on the success of their all-female track showcase by adding a London leg alongside a third consecutive stop at Icahn Stadium. But that dual-city vision just collapsed. With the unexpected cancellation of the flagship New York meet, the passionate fanbase is left blindsided and furious.
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The October 2 meet was set to feature another stacked field, including 100m hurdles world record holder Masai Russell. Instead of finalizing travel plans to see the world’s best light up New York, many fans were left demanding answers, taking to social media to express their frustration.
“How can athlete welfare be of importance all of a sudden when the event is 6 weeks away please lol.,” wrote a fan on X. “We’ve gotta get better at not accepting twangs & demanding whole truths in this sport.”
Official statements from Ohanian and Athlos confirmed the pullout, pointing squarely at an overcrowded 2026 track calendar. Between the debut of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, the Commonwealth Games, and the European Championships, top-tier athletes were already facing a brutal competitive slate. Adding another late-season meet in New York, organizers argued, would place an unreasonable physical strain.
Faced with an oversaturated calendar, leadership ultimately chose to sacrifice the New York leg while keeping the September 18 London meet intact. According to Ohanian, scrapping the Icahn Stadium event allows the organization to regroup and realign its schedule for 2027, a strategic pivot intended to protect athlete health.
“The decision has been made to not host ATHLOS New York in October 2026,” reads the official statement on Athlos’ Instagram account. “Our goal is that, starting in the 2027 season, ATHLOS events will move to be aligned with the global athletics calendar. ATHLOS was founded to put athletes first, and that means building a schedule that lets the world’s best female athletes compete healthy and at their peak.”
The inaugural London showcase on September 18 will go on as scheduled, but pulling the plug on New York with under six weeks to go left a community that had championed the startup feeling discarded.
For the fans who made plans, this hasn’t been easy
The late notice was a bridge too far for those who made travel arrangements like flights and hotels.
“Too many people in the T+F world are cheerleaders and give this stuff credibility before they prove it. Line up behind any new venture and do all their marketing for them and ask ZERO questions,” one fan wrote on X.
The fans’ frustration stems from just how quickly Athlos expanded its viewership. When the league launched in 2024, it proved it could deliver where others stumbled, drawing a staggering three million viewers and assembling a world-class field that included Olympic champions like Gabby Thomas alongside sprint powerhouses Daryll Neita and Zoe Hobbs. By pairing a fresh, women-only format with record-setting, prompt prize payouts, Athlos earned instant authority in a sport notoriously starved for sustainable, high-paying events.
The momentum built in 2025 only solidified Athlos as track’s premier new property. Staging an unprecedented long jump showcase in the heart of Times Square, backed by world-class fields featuring Olympic champions Tara Davis-Woodhall, Masai Russell, and Keely Hodgkinson, brought the brand into mainstream sports entertainment.
Outraged fans rallied around critical posts, echoing sentiments that Athlos’ abrupt exit from New York compromised the trust it spent two years building.
Some fans touched on a similar note “Speak on it! 🤦🏾♂️” while another hit out at co-founder Ohanian himself, writing, “Alexis not serious about women’s sports. I think it’s all about money.”
What a lot of fans fail to see is that behind Athlos isn’t a venture capitalist chasing a quick buck. This is Alexis Ohanian, the man who first demonstrated his playbook as a founding owner of NWSL’s Angel City FC. His entry into track and field is anchored in a long-held conviction that women’s sports are not a charity case, but a severely undervalued market waiting for the right backing.
Much like Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track, Ohanian envisioned a platform that could consistently showcase elite athletics outside the post-Olympic vacuum. Up until this latest speed bump, that blueprint was delivering on every front, giving Athlos legitimate commercial traction in a sport historically starved for high-paying events.
“My god today!” one fan commented on X. “Cancelling at six weeks out is the antithesis of centering athletes. The schedule has LONG been the schedule so why did this suddenly become the point of view? Moreover, this also discards fans who may have arrangements in place!”
The backlash now puts Athlos in an unfamiliar position, a jarring shift for an organization that spent two years cultivating goodwill. Whether that goodwill survives will depend largely on how Ohanian and Athlos handle the fan fallout from cancelling the New York meet.