The BBC will broadcast Athlos, the all-female athletics series co-founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, when the event arrives in London next month.

The meet is set to take place in September at Stone X Stadium, home of Premiership Rugby side Saracens. Scheduled competitors include Olympic stars Keely Hodgkinson, Sha'Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Georgia Hunter Bell. The London edition comes on the heels of a post-Olympic surge in athletics interest, a window that has historically proved difficult for standalone track events to sustain beyond the Games cycle.

Athlos is funded by Seven Seven Six, the early-stage venture capital firm founded by Ohanian — who is married to Serena Williams — which manages nearly $1 billion in assets. Richardson and Thomas, along with Tara Davis-Woodhall, also hold additional stakes in the organization. The equity-for-athletes model sets Athlos apart from traditional invitational meets and reflects a broader trend across women's sports, where athletes are increasingly securing ownership stakes in the properties they compete in.

Kayla Green, Athlos's acting president, said: "The BBC is where the UK falls in love with athletics, and there's no better partner to introduce Athlos to British fans."

The BBC's Athlos coverage will follow its broadcast of the European Athletics Championships, which begin next week in Birmingham — the first time the championships are being held in the UK. Back-to-back free-to-air coverage of major track events gives the sport an unusual stretch of visibility on British television at a time when women's sports are attracting record investment and viewership.

Athlos Expands Beyond the United States

Athlos launched in New York as a standalone all-female athletics meet and has outlasted Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track series. The London event will mark the organization's first expansion beyond the American East Coast, with Stone X Stadium hosting ahead of the new Premiership Rugby season. The expansion tests whether a women-only format can draw audiences and commercial partners across multiple markets — a question that has vexed athletics promoters for years.

Green added: "As we bring Athlos to London for the first time, streaming on BBC means every fan in the country can watch the world's fastest women make history. This is exactly what our global expansion is about: the best of women's track and field, on the biggest platforms in the world."

Ohanian's Broader Sports Portfolio

Ohanian, 43, has built a portfolio of investments in women's sports, with Athlos at the forefront. He holds a 10 per cent stake in Women's Super League club Chelsea and was a major investor in NWSL side Angel City FC before Disney chief Bob Iger and others acquired a controlling stake. Ohanian has previously stated that Chelsea could become the first women's football club to reach a $1 billion valuation.

He also owns a TGL golf team and a League One Volleyball franchise. The spread of investments mirrors a wider influx of capital into women's sports from high-profile tech and media entrepreneurs, driven by growing audiences and undervalued media rights — though the sustainability of individual ventures remains unproven in a landscape littered with folded leagues and short-lived events.