Olympians are essentially modern superheroes that live among us. But they often fall out of the public eye in between Olympics. Why do we go years without seeing the most celebrated, inspirational athletes on the planet?
This is the spark that drove Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder) to start Athlos, a first-of-its-kind all-women's track meet, offering the biggest prize purse in track and field. By innovating on the world’s oldest sport, Athlos gives athletes and fans a franchise event to anchor female track and field in the years between the Olympics.
But Athlos is anything but a typical track meet. It brings together 35 of the fastest women in the world elite female runners, with 30 Olympic medals among them, and the highest purse in the history of women’s track: Over $600,000 in prize money and Tiffany & Co. custom crowns to the winners. To up the entertainment value, the evening closed with a performance from Grammy-award winning artist Megan Thee Stallion.
To help build awareness for this history-making event, Ohanian hired Loop directly to showcase the athletes, create buzz on social media, and drive attendance to the first-ever Athlos event in NYC in September, 2024.
We filmed original documentaries of the runners, including Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes, to give the world a glimpse into their personal lives and what makes them such extraordinary athletes. We also captured all of the content on-site during the event, and ran a rapid-response social media program that updated content live throughout the night.
The fans loved it:
Notable guests at the event include Lupita Nyong'o, Flava Flav, Natalie Emmanuel, Marsai Martin, Shonda Rhimes, Robin Arzon, Sean Evans and MKBHD.
And the event made history, creating viral moments and charting a visionary way forward for a new era in women's sport with over 22 million impressions on social media.
