An opportunity for women to shine
Athlos NYC meet will award record prize money in women's-only invitational
Olympic gold medalists Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, Gabby Thomas and Masai Russell of the U.S., and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic headline the list of 36 women athletes who are scheduled to compete in the Athlos NYC track meet on Randall’s Island, with tonight’s program kicking off at 7 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
The women’s-only meet, which is the brainchild of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, will take place at Icahn Stadium and consist of six-runner fields in the 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,500 meters, as well as in the 100 hurdles.
There will be $110,500 in prize money for each event, with $60,000 going to the winner, followed by amounts of $25,000 for second place, $10,000 for third, $8,000 for fourth, $5,000 for fifth, and $2,500 for sixth.
In addition, 10 percent of all revenues from ticketing, commercial and broadcast sponsorship will go to the participating athletes.
In comparison, each winner of the 32 individual events contested in the recent Diamond League Final held in the Memorial van Damme meet in Brussels on Sept. 13 and 14 was awarded $30,000 in prize money.
The Athlos NYC meet will be unique in other ways as three-time Grammy Awards winner Megan Thee Stallion will perform after the competition. DJ Derrick “D’Nice” Jones will provide musical entertainment during the meet, as well as play walk-out songs for each competitor as they are introduced.
The women’s 1,500 meters appears to be the deepest field of the meet as it will include three-time Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Kipyegon, as well as well as Gudaf Tsegay, the third-fastest performer in history, fellow Ethiopian Diribe Welteji, who finished fourth in the Olympic Games, and Kenyan Susan Ejore-Sanders, who placed sixth in Paris.
Four of the other five events will include two of the three medalists from the Olympic Games in Paris.
Paulino and silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain will meet in the 400, with Thomas facing bronze medalist and Diamond League champion Brittany Brown of the U.S. in the 200.
The 100 hurdles will also include a Diamond League champion as Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico will race gold medalist Russell for the eighth time this season.
In the 800, Diamond League champion and Olympic bronze medalist Mary Moraa of Kenya will renew her budding rivalry with Olympic silver medalist and World indoor champion Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, who will be racing for the first time since Paris.
The women’s 100 will include Daryll Neita of Great Britain, who placed fourth in the Olympics, and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Cote d’Ivoire, who finished eighth in Paris after sustaining an injury during the race.
The competition will begin with the 100 hurdles at 7:35 p.m., followed by the 100 at 7:55, the 400 at 8:15, the 800 at 8:35, the 1,500 at 8:55, and the 200 at 9:15.
Megan Thee Stallion is scheduled to perform at 9:45.
The meet will be televised and/or streamed on ESPN+, DAZN, the YouTube channel of Athlos, and X.