Keely Hodgkinson secured a dominant 800m victory at the inaugural London staging of Athlos, finishing in one minute 56.40 seconds before a sellout crowd at StoneX Stadium.
The 24-year-old Olympic champion, who has endured a challenging year marked by injury setbacks, powered clear on the back straight to claim the top prize. Rather than traditional medals, winners were awarded a distinctive silver Tiffany & Co crown as part of the event’s unique format.
Hodgkinson also showcased a custom-made, full-body aerodynamic speed suit designed for the occasion. The all-black outfit, which featured an open back and colour-changing 3D-printed nodes to reduce drag, drew comparisons to the gear worn by Cathy Freeman during her gold medal win in the 400m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“This has been like a year in the making,” Hodgkinson told BBC Sport. “It’s a mixture of fashion and speed and science all coming together for maybe the future of athletics.”
She added that the all-female meet provided the perfect platform to end her season on a high note. “But an all-women’s event that’s all about the glitz and the glamour and putting eyes on women, a bit of a moment, I think was the perfect way to finish the season,” she said.
The victory marked Hodgkinson’s first win since the London Diamond League in July. Her campaign had been disrupted by a fall during a cool-down run and a recurrence of a hamstring injury that had kept her sidelined for much of 2025. Despite these hurdles, she finished second to Swiss star Audrey Werro at both the European Championships and the World Athletics Ultimate Championship earlier this year.
Athlos, founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams, brought its high-profile meet to London for the first time. The single-night event featured a $1.05 million prize pot distributed across seven disciplines, with $65,000 awarded to each winner.
Other notable results included American sprinters Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson taking titles in the 200m and 100m respectively. Richardson won the 100m in 10.80 seconds, while Thomas claimed the 200m in 22.13 seconds. In the mile, Poland’s Klaudia Kazimierska edged out British training partner Georgia Hunter Bell in a close finish, recording a time of 4:19.43.
The event, designed to blend athletics with entertainment, featured a red carpet arrival, a live track-side DJ, and appearances by celebrities including Serena Williams. Ohanian has stated his ambition to establish Athlos as a global season-long league, potentially expanding to include men’s events in future editions, with a target launch around the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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