“She had an entire memo of thoughts and ideas,” said Alexis Ohanian last year, about how Gabby Thomas went overboard trying to make Athlos NYC a resounding success. Safe to say, the Olympic gold medalist saw the venture capitalist’s plans as a passion project of her own. Now, as the dust settles on the 2025 Athletics World Championships, the attention shifts to the women-only track event once again. With Thomas failing to win gold at the Ohanian-led competition last year, fans can’t wait to know if Thomas, along with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, will be lining up on the starting line this time around.

What is Athlos NYC 2025?

The Athlos NYC 2025 is the second edition of the female-focused track event organized by tennis icon Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, and his firm, 776. The event will return to the Icahn Stadium for the second time, with the races slated to take place on October 10. A long list of athletes has already been revealed, to the fans’ delight.

Among the most notable stars who will head to the Big Apple to entertain the track connoisseurs this year are Brittany Brown, Masai Russell, Faith Kipyegon, Marileidy Paulino, and Tara Davis-Woodhall. And still, despite all the scintillating names mentioned above, fans just want to know: will Gabby Thomas be there?

Gabby Thomas’ 2025 season so far

The 28-year-old track sensation started her 2025 campaign with the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. She then participated in the first stop of the Grand Slam Track, organized by former Olympic champion Michael Johnson. However, injuries caused trouble, and Thomas had to limit her runs in the subsequent months. Her latest string of runs came at the US Championships, held in Eugene in August. Gabby failed to win gold in any of the races, but still managed to qualify for the 2025 World Championships. But, Thomas had to withdraw from the competition due to an Achilles injury.

While Thomas has made her name essentially over the 200-meter stretch, she has historically competed in all three formats (100m, 200m, and 400m), as well as in relays. Naturally, with Thomas having so many options at her disposal, coupled with the fact that she had to watch her comrades in action at the Tokyo World Championships from the sidelines, fans were obviously looking forward to watching her run at the Athlos NYC 2025. But hope might not be the best thing to cling to.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s current form

Compared to Gabby Thomas, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has been spending quite a lot of time on the tracks this year. The 24-year-old Georgetown, South Carolina, native started the 2025 season with two gold medals at the Grand Slam Track in Kingston in April, followed by a relay silver at the Tom Jones Memorial later that month. At the Miami and Philadelphia stops of the GST, Jefferson-Wooden added more medals to her resume in May and June.

In July, she won gold in the women’s 100m at the Prefontaine Classic. In August’s US Championships, Melissa won gold in both the 100m and 200m finals, securing her spot in Team USA for the Tokyo World Championships. At the World Athletics Championships in September, Jefferson-Wooden won three golds (100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay).

Have they been confirmed for Athlos NYC 2025?

“I just started rehab, so sadly I won’t be running at Athlos,” Thomas confirmed just a few days ago that she won’t be competing in the Athlos NYC this year. But, luckily, Thomas will still be working behind the scenes to make sure the tournament continues to reach newer heights. “I will be there and I will be meeting and talking to everybody there since I’m not running. It’s the least I can do. So I’ll be there for sure,” Thomas added.

Gabby was one of the first athletes announced for Ohanian’s Athlos NYC last year. Along with competing, Thomas was also onboarded by the Reddit co-founder as one of the masterminds who worked hand-in-hand to make sure the event was a thunderous triumph. Sadly, Thomas will only get to work from backstage. Along with Thomas, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden also pulled out of Athlos NYC 2025, citing fatigue issues as the biggest hurdle. However, while she won’t be showing up in New York after making history at the World Championships, she is currently making moves to increase her social media footprint by starting her own Twitch channel.

Without a doubt, the absence of two of the most emphatic Olympic gold medalists from this year’s Athlos NYC will be a hard pill to swallow. However, considering how both Thomas and Jefferson-Wooden are elite athletes who are constantly on the lookout to beef up their resumes, we can rest assured that they will use the off-time to recover from their physical woes and get back stronger than ever before!