Athlos expands to London, doubles to two-city championship series

Athlos is betting that a bigger stage, bigger money and a two-city format can turn a women’s track meet into a durable commercial property, not a one-off spectacle. The series will open its 2026 season at StoneX Stadium in Barnet, North London, on September 18 before returning to Icahn Stadium in New York on October 2.

That London debut gives Athlos its first international meet after two editions at Icahn Stadium in 2024 and 2025. StoneX, home of Saracens rugby union, holds about 10,500 spectators, a relatively intimate setting for a brand that founder Alexis Ohanian has described as the “Formula 1 of track and field.” The comparison is more than marketing shorthand. It is a claim that athletics can travel city to city, build repeat audiences and create a season rather than a single showcase.

The financial stakes are rising with it. Athlos says the 2026 prize pot will climb to more than $2.1 million, up from $773,500 in 2025. First place in each discipline will pay $65,000, with payouts through sixth place. The athlete who finishes with the highest cumulative points across both meets will collect a $25,000 bonus and a Tiffany & Co. crown, but only if she competes in both cities under the new “Two Cities, One Crown” format.

Athlos is also trying to bind athletes to the business itself. The league says participating athletes will receive equity, extending a model that has already put Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall in advisory and ownership roles. The pitch speaks to a long-running problem in women’s sports: elite talent is often asked to carry growth without being given a meaningful share in the upside. Equity changes that equation if the league can grow beyond its launch-year buzz.

That is why London matters as much as the purse. Athlos has confirmed Richardson, Thomas, Davis-Woodhall, Masai Russell and Marileidy Paulino for both meets, giving the series enough star power to test whether it can sell tickets, attract sponsors and hold attention in two markets. The schedule also places both events after the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest, which run from September 11 to 13, putting Athlos in a crowded but carefully chosen slot on the athletics calendar.

If the London meet fills StoneX and the New York finale lands with similar force, Athlos will have a case that women’s track can travel as a premium product. If it cannot, the “Formula 1” framing will read less like a business model and more like a slogan.