Sophie O'Sullivan and Rhasidat Adeleke were both in action in the lucrative all-women Athlos meet in London on Friday night.
The brainchild of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2024, it has been held twice previously, with this year’s invitation-only event at the StoneX Stadium in north London the first time it has been held in Europe.
With just six athletes invited for six premium events, lucrative cash prizes have incentivised some the cream of the crop to attend as part of Ohanian’s ambition to develop more elite women-only sporting events across the globe.
Athlos London boasts total prize purse of just over $1m (€920,000), with a further $250,000 (€217,000) available to anyone who breaks a world record.
While the future remains uncertain for the event – October’s scheduled staging in New York has already been cancelled - stars such as Gabby Thomas, Keely Hodgkinson and Tara Davis-Woodhall have added the credibility of the London meet.
Olympic champion Hodgkinson, whose running attire featured an all-black ensemble with a ponytail cut-out and long black sleeves, was first across the line in the women’s 800m, where O’Sullivan was fifth in a time of 2:00.53, well outside the PB (1:58.60) she set in Italy last month.
O’Sullivan secured the invite after breaking the two-minute barrier in her last three races and earned $10,000 (€8,700) for her night's work
A little over a month after collecting a silver medal in the European Athletics Championships 200m, Rhasidat Adeleke was also in action in the English capital.
It was a one-two-three for the United States, with Gabby Thomas leading home Kayla White and Anavia Batte, with Adeleke fourth in a time of 22.64, collecting $15,000 (€13,000) in the process.
