Thomas crushed by Brown at profitable Athlos NYC occasion

American Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas was edged by Brittany Brown as lots of the world’s high girls’s observe athletes competed for document prizes on the inaugural Athlos NYC.

Thomas, winner of three golds at Paris 2024, clocked 22.21 seconds however was crushed by Olympic bronze medallist Brown, who crossed the road in 22.18.

Kenyan 1500m world document holder Religion Kipyegon and Olympic 400m champion Marileidy Paulino have been among the many winners to obtain $60,000 (£44,900) on the girls’s-only observe invitational.

Alexis Ohanian – Reddit co-founder and husband of tennis’ 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams – launched the occasion, which boasts a record $500,000 (£374,000) prize pool for a girls’s observe meet.

“I really feel like this sport is de facto altering and rising – I am excited to be part of it,” Brown mentioned.

The Diamond League, as compared, presents a $15,000 (£11,200) first prize throughout its 15 collection conferences, rising to $30,000 (£22,400) for the ultimate.

Thirty-six athletes competed on the Icahn Stadium throughout the 100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 800m, and 1500m, with victors additionally receiving a crown by New York jewellers Tiffany & Co.

“I requested these girls, I used to be like, ‘Hey, so what’s your high prize on the finish of a season for successful?’ They usually mentioned $30,000,” Ohanian informed Reuters.

“And I mentioned, ‘Nice, I’ll double it for one single race’.”

Nice Britain’s Daryll Neita (11.29 seconds) was fourth within the 100m, gained by Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith of the Ivory Coast in 10.98.

Katie Snowden ran 4 minutes 07.57 seconds to put sixth within the 1500m, as Olympic and world champion Kipyegon gained in 4:04.79 forward of Ethiopian Diribe Welteji.

Paulinho gained the 400m title in 49.59 seconds, whereas Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn took victory within the 100m hurdles in 12.36 seconds.

Olympic 800m silver medallist Tsige Duguma beat Kenya’s world champion Mary Moraa over the two-lap race in 1:57.43.

The Athlos assembly continues wider funding within the sport and its athletes, with World Athletics paying Olympic champions for the first time at the Paris Games this year.

In June, American legend Michael Johnson introduced the launch of a lucrative new athletics league starting in April 2025 referred to as Grand Slam observe, with a complete of $12.6m in prize cash.

And final week, the Diamond League mentioned it might increase its prize cash for the 2025 season.

“That is greater than myself and it is greater than this race,” mentioned Thomas, who added 4x100m and 4x400m relay golds to her 200m win in Paris.

“It is about what we’re doing for girls’s sports activities and what this occasion, particularly, means for girls’s sport and for observe and area.”

Ohanian based Athlos NYC following his funding in Los Angeles-based NWSL aspect Angel Metropolis FC final yr, when the membership turned the most expensive women’s sports team in the world.

“You simply take a look at the follower counts, you take a look at the engagement. Girls athletes – and on this instance, with observe – simply are far more compelling,” mentioned Ohanian.

“I’ve a ‘Spidey sense’ for the place there are hyper-engaged communities of followers and ladies’s sports activities has them in droves.”