When Alexis Ohanian was building his vision for Athlos, he wanted to make a statement about where women’s track might go next. Hence, when talking about the mission of Athlos, he said, “I saw an opportunity to make these women the superstars they are on the biggest stage possible year-round.” Now, as the women’s only event is putting the track and field in the spotlight, the Reddit co-founder shared one reason that makes Athlos unique.

As the Athlos 2025 commenced at the Icahn Stadium on October 10, 2025, Ohanian sat down with the famed American broadcaster, Cari Champion. And that’s when Champion put forth the intrigue that why highlighting the women in sports was so important to Ohanian. Well, he had to address one thing. Many claim that his affinity towards women in sports came from his own two daughters. In a way that might be true. But reality was a bit different. Ohanian claimed, “But I don’t ever want anyone to get twisted. Nothing about this is charity. The reason why this means so much to me is I want to celebrate excellence.” 

Alexis Ohanian proceeded to give the example of his wife, Serena Williams, and her sister, Venus Williams. The sisters from Crompton ensured that their excellence and dominance on the court put women’s tennis as the highlight on the map. They ensured that people knew that women’s tennis was on par with men’s tennis. The Athlos founder continued, “And what that took was pay equity, thanks to Billie Jean King, and generational excellence in the Williams sisters. And to this day, women’s tennis is even more popular in America than men’s.” 

That made Alexis Ohanian put on his thinking cap. If the Williams sisters can help women’s tennis grow, it can certainly be done with track and field. He further added, “This for me is an opportunity that in 10 years, folks are gonna look at me like, ‘This was the most obvious thing you ever could have built.’ And my answer to them is ‘Why not faster? Why not sooner?’”

But things weren’t always this smooth for Ohanian when he was capitalizing on his idea of Athlos. Some people greatly criticized his move. Yet, all that did was propel Ohanian further ahead. 

Alexis Ohanian once lashed back at critics as Athlos NYC rises in popularity

The Athlos NYC founder used the Forbes 3050 event as his platform to address the critics. He stated, “Investing in women’s sports five years ago was unthinkable… [Many people] told me I was going to lose all my money and it would never work. I’m very happy to prove them wrong.” Things got real for Ohanian with the success of last year’s Athlos. He offered a prize pool of $500,000 and awarded the winners with crowns made by Tiffany & Co., instead of traditional medals. 

In the end, Ohanian had only one message for the haters of his cause. He announced, “And you know I saved ALL those tweets saying we’d fail and ‘no one watches women’s sports’ — and we’re not done yet, haters!” And he was right! Athlos 2025 was even a bigger success story. 

What’s more interesting is that Icahn Stadium experienced a sellout of tickets just hours ahead of the event this year. Showcasing women in sports at the Times Square was yet another power move that pushed the popularity of Athlos even further. What do you think of Ohanian’s stance for Athlos and women in sports?