Three of America’s fastest women are racing ahead — this time off the track. Olympic sprinters Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall have officially joined the ownership group of ATHLOS, the women’s-only track and field league founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
The groundbreaking team-based league is scheduled to launch in full by 2026.
ATHLOS, which held its inaugural meet in 2024 and plans to return to New York in 2025, is positioned as a bold new model for women’s track and field.
The league aims to bring a fresh, athlete-first approach to the sport, with an emphasis on team competition over individual competition, sizable cash prizes, and revenue sharing for athletes.
A League Designed for and by Women
ATHLOS is not just about competition; it’s about redefining how women in track and field are valued and compensated. According to the league’s website, ATHLOS will feature “blazing fast” events with a team-based twist. Events will take place across multiple U.S. cities, culminating in a championship showdown.
The prize structure reflects this new direction: each event winner will receive $60,000, and 10% of all event revenues will be redistributed to participating athletes.
“I asked these women, ‘What is your top prize at the end of a season for winning?’ And they said $30,000,” Ohanian said in an interview with Reuters. “I said, ‘Great, I’m going to double it for one single race.’”
Athletes as Advisor-Owners
While they continue to compete on the world stage, Richardson, Thomas, and Davis-Woodhall are also stepping into advisory roles as founding owners of ATHLOS. Their involvement is intended to shape the league from the inside out.
“Gabby, Sha’Carri, and Tara represent a new generation of athletes who have put this sport on their shoulders and deserve to be compensated for being the standard-bearers,” Ohanian told the Hartford Courant. “We were focused on bringing them into the League as founding owners to ensure we’re building a League that our athletes will love.”
Building the Future of Track
With its athlete-first structure, performance bonuses, and now high-profile athlete-owners, ATHLOS is positioning itself as more than just a track league. It’s becoming a movement.
“We’re really at that stage of taking those steps to make sure that as we’re building this vision and the details around the vision, that we’re doing it with the athletes at the center,” said Kayla Green, ATHLOS’ chief media officer, to City AM.
For Richardson, Thomas, and Davis-Woodhall, the move into ownership represents a larger trend of athlete empowerment, especially for Black women in sports who have long led on the field but have had limited influence behind the scenes. Now, they are helping shape what the future of women’s athletics can look like.
