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Athlos may be one of the BEST events I've EVER attended in my life.
As most people may know, many members of our team have become enamoured with and huge fans of track and field since working with Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green. Kurt and I have been absolutely spoiled with our first meets.
Meet 1 - World Relays in the Bahamas What an incredible scene
Meet 2 - Racers GP in Jamaica with incredible energy
Meet 3 - 100M Olympic Final
Meet 4 - Athlos
Athlos was an event created by Alexis Ohanian, "Mr. Reddit," and it's the first Women's track meet. Held in NYC at Icahn Stadium. The entire premise was showcasing the women, making them feel like superstars, showcasing the superior athletes they are and creating the best damn track event ever. When I tell you they succeeded, they did by a million. A couple of things that stood out that made the entire difference were
- lounges and having food and entertainment trackside, I've never seen that before.
- Walk-out music for the athletes competing
- having music and a DJ the entire time to keep the people entertained
- Bringing Meg thee Stallion to perform at the end
It was just amazing to see the level of attention to detail they put into curating the energy and excitement in the building.
The stars came out to play; Sean Evans, Lupita Nyong'o, our very own Justin Gatlin, and many others came out to support.
Track is such an exciting sport, but it doesn't get much attention other than the Olympics. When you break down track, it is the purest form of competition: person vs. person, with a stop watch to decide. There are no refs to decide and no teammates to hide behind.
More than anything, it was important to support the women athletes who competed and show that they can show up and deliver. Alexis pulled out all the stops by doubling the prize money of any meet of that year at $60,000 per win, and the third place finisher finished with as much as a Diamond League win. They also gave inaugural Tiffany crowns to each winner, which they said were valued at $75,000 each.
Also, while we were there, we had a chance to sit down with Alexis Ohanian, Masai Russell (100M Hurdle Gold Medal Olympian), Fred Kerley (100m Bronze Medal Olympian) and last but not least, a LEGEND Gail Devers (100M Gold Medal Olympian)
The vibes were crazy, and so was the competition. I can't wait to see what phase 2 of Athlos looks like.
