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≡ ATHLOS NYC ≡
Another new entry in the U.S. track & field meet roster was the Athlos NYC meet at a mostly-full Icahn Stadium in New York, a project of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, featuring only six races with only women competing.
The races – sprints and the 800 and 1,500 m – were spaced 20 minutes apart, had all the expected hyped-up introductions and track-side fireworks (and the accompanying smoke), and had betting at DraftKings.com. The races had prizes of $60,000-25,000-10,000-8,000-5,000-2,500.
Beyond all the hype, there were the races, in good, 73 (F) temperatures:
● 100 m hurdles: Diamond League winner Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR) flinched in the blocks, but the race went off anyway. She and Alaysha Johnson got out best, with Olympic champ Masai Russell trailing, but Camacho-Quinn steadily built her lead.
Russell was fourth at midway and came on hard, but Camacho-Quinn got to the line first in 12.36 (wind: +0.6 m/s), just 0.01 off her seasonal best. Russell ran out of track and Johnson got second, 12.43 to 12.44, with Tonea Marshall fourth in 12.51.
Camacho-Quinn won the $60,000 first prize and also received a post-race silver Tiffany silver crown – said to be valued at $25,000 and given to all winners – in a highlighted ceremony.
● 100 m: Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (CIV), the 2017 Worlds silver winner but eighth in Paris, was the betting favorite at -170 and she got out well, chased closely by Olympic 200 m bronze winner Brittany Brown of the U.S.
Ta Lou-Smith pulled away in the final 20 m and won in 10.98 (+0.1), with Brown at 11.05, a seasonal best. Candace Hill of the U.S. pulled into third in the final 40 m in 11.14, with Britain’s Daryll Neita back in fourth at 11.29.
● 400 m: Olympic champ Marileidy Paulino (DOM) was – quite properly – the prohibitive favorite at -475, starting in lane six. She was out well, but Paris silver winner Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) was chasing hard in lane four and the two were 1-2 through 200 m.
Paulino made up the stagger on American Alexis Holmes outside her by the 200 m mark and pulled away from Naser on the straight, winning in 49.60. Holmes, an Olympic finalists in Paris, surged in the final 70 m and got second, 49.99 to 50.40. Americans Shamier Little finished fourth in 51.28 and Lynna Irby-Jackson was sixth in 51.83.
● 800 m: Kenya’s Mary Moraa, the 2023 World Champion, went off as the -145 favorite and she and Paris silver winner Tsige Duguma (ETH) went through the first 400 in 58.13.
Duguma continued leading down the final backstraight with Moraa only a step behind and American 1,000 m record-setter Addy Wiley third and Jamaican record holder Natoya Goule-Toppin in fourth, both in a strong position.
Coming into the straight, Duguma had the lead by a step and Moraa could not catch her. The race was over with 50 m left and she finished in 1:57.43 to 1:58.05. Goule-Toppin was third into the straight and was third in 1:58.63, with Wiley fourth in 1:58.93. Fellow American Nia Akins was sixth in 2:01.32.
Duguma – in her first race since Paris – was underestimated at +200 to win, pulled a nice “upset” if you had her.
● 1,500 m: Triple Olympic champ Faith Kipyegon (KEN) was also a huge, –500 favorite, undefeated in five races in 2024. There was a pacesetter to go through 800 m in 2:07, aimed at a sub-4:00 time.
Kipyegon was second, with Ethiopia’s two-time World Champion (5,000-10,000) Gudaf Tsegay moving up to challenge just past 800 in 2:09. Kipyegon passed the bell in 3:06 and had a step on Tsegay and World Road Mile champion Diribe Welteji, and Kipyegon and Welteji were 1-2 with 200 to go.
Kipyegon opened up off into the straight and ran away to win in 4:04.79, with her final 400 m in 58.45. Welteji was alone in second in 4:05.58, with Kenyan Susan Ejore-Sanders was third in 4:06.25. Tsegay was fourth in 4:06.81 and American Cory McGee was fifth (4:07.09).
● 200 m: Olympic champ Gabby Thomas of the U.S. was the –360 favorite in lane six, but with Diamond League champ Brown of the U.S. outside of her in lane seven (+300).
Thomas was off well and made up the stagger on Brown, but Tokyo Olympian Anavia Battle was close in lane five. But Brown was only a step behind and surged to the front in the final 50 m and just edged Thomas, 22.18 to 22.21 (+0.7). Battle got third in 22.34, with Jenna Prandini at 22.62 and Tamara Clark fifth in 22.83.
Viewing was on various online platforms and peaked on YouTube at about 5,000, and on X (ex-Twitter) after the 200 m at 116,500. There were others.
The meet was more celebration than anything else, continuously promoting women in sports – with a lot of interviews between the events – more than track & field. But it’s another highlight for the sport, in a year when private equity has decided to dip its toe in the water for track & field.
Hopefully, there will be more.
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