There’s a lot brewing in track and field lately. From the Nike debacles to pay disparities etc, we’ve seen it all. Or have we? Beyond the multi-sport spectacle, are you keeping up with the latest athletics news? According to the hottest headline, four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson partnered with Winners Alliance to develop a new pro track and field league with over $30 million already secured. Another piece of news came in yesterday (April 23): Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian and co-founder of Reddit stated that he is investing in a new women’s only track and field invitational called the ‘776 Invitational.’

If you’re wondering how Alexis Ohanian’s gender-specific vision is different, look no further beyond the undeniably impressive prize money he’s providing. To shape his curiosity in women’s track and field, the billionaire asked one of the world’s fastest female sprinters and Olympians out there, Gabby Thomas, posing an unusual F1-related statement. Guess what happened next?

Alexis Ohanian seems to have rattled his business partner with this comment

On Tuesday afternoon at the Business of Women’s Sports Summit, Alexis Ohanian, seated next to the Paris Olympics prospect and defending Olympic bronze medalist in the women’s 200, asked Thomas a question as a normie. The co-owner of a professional women’s soccer team said, “Can the track be laid out like an F-1 circuit, so it’s not like an oval every time?” Thomas, his partner for the 776 Invitational, replied, “That’s a terrible idea.”. Their candid conversation was shared by The Washington Post.

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The 776 Invitational, hosted by Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, will take place around a month after the 2024 Summer Olympics and will include the highest prize pool ever for a women-only track event. Athletes from the United States and overseas will compete for a total payout of at least $500,000, with $60,000 going to first place, $25,000 to second, and $10,000 to third in an undetermined number of events.

‘776 Invitational’ is more lucrative than most professional competitions and is a springboard for women competitors the world over. For instance, the gold medalists at last year’s World Championship received $70,000. For more context, this year World Athletics announced to offer $50,000 incentive for all Olympic gold medalists in Paris, for the first time.

Other ideas, including one proposed by Winners Alliance, say that their new league plan, which would launch in 2025 with eight-time world champion Johnson, is “the single largest investment in track and field history,” with a claimed seven-figure sum already invested.  Now, it’s Alexis Ohanian’s vision that stems from more than just a business angle.

The inspiration behind the women-centric investment

Alexis Ohanian’s foray into track and field bodes well for a sport that has struggled to acquire momentum in America outside of the Olympics every four years. He is currently focusing his investment only on women’s events and thinks women’s athletics is ‘not as a cause, but a business opportunity’ but with a touch of empathy. Ohanian became interested in sports after seeing an interview in which Sha’Carri Richardson, the undisputed queen of tracks, discussed her issues with THC when her biological mother died just before thea Tokyo Olympics. The anecdote struck a chord with Ohanian, whose own mother died when he was starting off with Reddit.

In other news, Gabby Thomas is yet to participate in the United States Olympic trials in June and, probably, will attend the 2024 Paris Olympics as one of the team’s top sprinters.