Alexis Ohanian and Tara Davis-Woodhall team up for groundbreaking women's field events at Times Square

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has teamed up with Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall for ATHLOS groundbreaking field competition set to be held at Times Square on October 9.

The record-breaking ATHLOS meet created by Ohanian, which debuted in September 2024 as a women-only track competition, will now include its first-ever field event with Davis-Woodhall serving as an athlete advisor.

Speaking on the CBS Mornings Show, Ohanian revealed the motivation behind the new inclusion, citing that track and field events “shouldn’t disappear for the four years in between” after the Olympics.

"We (ATHLOS) were captivated by track and field during the Olympics, and these athletes are superstars, and I have to admit when announcing ATHLOS last year, I was focused on track, and I got a wonderful message from Tara, kindly and firmly reminding me that field exists and that is a really important thing to include," said the venture capitalist who's the husband of tennis legend Serena Williams.

Ohanian further revealed how Davis-Woodhall's star power to draw in the crowd was a main factor in the decision.

"We actually got to see her at the Olympic trials, and she captivated the entire stadium of people, and it was clear her star power made sense," he added.

Davis-Woodhall, in her response, revealed why she took the bold step of being "salty" in her message to Ohanian.

"I was so salty actually. I was like, 'What about field events?' I feel like field events are always being looked at last, but field events are so important for track and field. When no sprint events are going on, it's not lively anymore. It's almost quiet, but then you realise that field event is happening. So in between each running event, there's a field event happening, so you're never bored, you're left with two hours of full excitement," she said.

ATHLOS successfully debuted on September 26, 2024, at the Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City, featuring some of the fastest women in the world, including Olympic champions and World Record holders.

With an offer of the largest-ever purse for a women-only competition of $60,000 for each race winner, the organizers modernized the sport by combining "competition with entertainment, including a performance by top musician Megan Thee Stallion after the last race, that drew 'near-universal praise' from participants and fans globally.

In May 2025, Ohanian announced that from 2026, ATHLOS will run a team-based women’s track and field league with multiple meets featuring Olympic champions Sha'Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Davis-Woodhall as advisor owners.

Ohanian said in a statement: “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. We were focused on bringing them into the League as founding owners to ensure we’re building a League that our athletes will love.”

For this year's edition, the track events will take place at the ICAHN Stadium on October 10, while the field events, as stated earlier, will be in Times Square on October 9.