Athlos Takes Its Athlete-Owned Women's Track League to London on Friday

Athlos is leaving America for the first time.

The all-female track league holds its first event outside the United States on Friday night, Oct. 9, at Saracens' StoneX Stadium in north London. The event combines elite sprinting and field events with red-carpet appearances, fashion and entertainment.

Athletes own a piece of the league

Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and husband of Serena Williams, started the league. It staged its inaugural edition in 2024.

The model is built around big prize money and athlete-owners. Three of the sport's best-known names hold equity: Gabby Thomas, the reigning 200m Olympic champion, Sha'Carri Richardson, a three-time world sprint champion, and Tara Davis-Woodhall, the Olympic long-jump champion.

Their combined Instagram following is almost seven million. That reach is part of the product.

Thomas says the sport's women have an advantage there. "One of the really fun things about track and field is that the women have such a strong social media presence and we share our stories and personalities online. You kind of see us everywhere," she told Telegraph Sport.

Bringing order to a fragmented sport

Thomas sat down with Bloomberg's Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly for an episode of The Deal released Oct. 8. The program describes Athlos as an attempt to bring order to the unstructured world of track and field.

Thomas took an athlete adviser role when Ohanian approached her before the 2024 launch. She says his knowledge of the sport was somewhat lacking at the start. He made up for it, she says, with relentless curiosity.

The pitch to athletes is simple. In a sport where stars often depend on a patchwork of meets and sponsors, Athlos offers prize money and ownership.

The cost of being visible

High visibility has a downside, and Thomas has said so publicly.

Last year she posted a TikTok video asking for advice about groups of men she said were stalking her at airports across the U.S. Tennis star Coco Gauff replied that people had followed her at airports too. Soon afterward, Emma Raducanu had a breakdown on court after her suspected stalker turned up at a tournament in Dubai.

Thomas says going public worked. "I think it did spook them," she told Telegraph Sport. "I haven't seen them since. They haven't come to my flights or my gate. They knew the cities I was in and that was scaring me but I'm really grateful it got traction."

Not everyone liked her approach. Thomas says she got many comments asking why she was posting about it instead of handling it privately.

Her answer: "Well this is why, because once you use your platform, change really does happen."

The stalkers are unidentified, and no charges or investigation have been mentioned. Her account of the men and of their disappearance comes from Thomas herself.

What Friday decides

London is the first real test of whether the Athlos format travels. A league built on American-style entertainment now has to sell itself to a British crowd at a rugby ground.

The athlete-owner structure is also unusual in track, where governing bodies and promoters have traditionally held the power. If the London event draws a crowd and holds attention, other athletes may want equity in future ventures. If it does not, the premium prize money and celebrity-driven marketing will look harder to sustain.

The next question is whether Athlos adds more international dates after Friday.