Mary Moraa’s track rival joins Faith Kipyegon & Gabby Thomas for Ksh7.7m event despite Olympics flop

Mary Moraa’s track rival joins Faith Kipyegon & Gabby Thomas for Ksh7.7m event despite Olympics flop

Joel Omotto 12:08 - 19.08.2024

The Jamaican 800m runner is the latest to sign up for the lucrative women’s-only athletics event that is sponsored by tennis legend Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian.

Jamaica’s 800m runner Natoya Goule-Toppin is the latest athlete to sign up for the lucrative Athlos NYC, a women’s-only track event, set to take place in New York on September 26.

The event is a brainchild of tennis legend Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian who is taking a bet at athletics after succeeding in other ventures.

Ohanian is betting big on women considering the biggest track stars in the world right now are the female gender and after making Olympics 200m champion Gabby Thomas the first athlete to sign up, he added Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and world 400m champion Alexis Holmes.

Now, Jamaican Goule-Toppin has also been added to the star-studded roster even though she did not have a poor outing at the Paris Olympics where her journey ended at the semi-finals.

Goule-Toppin finished sixth in her semi-final heat in a time of 1:59.14, a race won by Kenya’s Mary Moraa (1:57.86) who went on to win bronze in the final as Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson claimed gold ahead of Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma who settled for silver.

"I cannot wait to participate in the inaugural ATHLOS NYC event, running alongside all the women in this field who inspire me every day—and paving the way for the future,” Goule-Toppin.

“Thank you to everybody who's believed in me so far. Can't wait to make you proud.”

Athlos NYC is set to be one of the highest paying athletics events as winners will pocket $60,000 (Ksh7.7 million) while second place will attract $25,000 (Ksh3.2 million), third place $10,000 (Ksh1.3 million), fourth place $8,000 (Ksh1 million), fifth place fetching $5,000 (Ksh645,598) as sixth attracts a prize of $2,500 (Ksh322,500).

The Athlos NYC will feature the 100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 800m and 1500m with Ohanian looking forward to making the event even much bigger to earn the athletes more.

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