- Published
Keely Hodgkinson powered to victory in a custom-made full-body speed suit before being presented with a Tiffany & Co crown as Athlos made its London debut.
Hodgkinson was greeted by loud cheers as she emerged on to a stage and revealed the all-black aerodynamic outfit at the third staging of the all-female athletics meet.
The 24-year-old ensured she ended a mixed year with a dominant 800m victory in front of a sellout home crowd at StoneX Stadium, bursting clear on the back straight and crossing the line in one minute 56.40 seconds.
Speaking about the outfit, Hodgkinson told BBC Sport: "This has been like a year in the making. It's a mixture of fashion and speed and science all coming together for maybe the future of athletics.
"It was a real honour for them to choose me to put this out first. We weren't sure when we were going to wear it.
"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."
Created by Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband of tennis' 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, Athlos was staging a meet for the first time outside of New York.
In addition to the silver Tiffany crown awarded to winners instead of medals, a top prize of $65,000 (£48,500) was on offer in each event.
The single-night meet included seven disciplines, each featuring six athletes, with money on offer for each position from a total event prize pot of $1.05m (£790,500).
American sprint stars Gabby Thomas and Sha'Carri Richardson were among the champions amid a party atmosphere which featured a live track-side DJ.
Hodgkinson ends mixed year with crown and a smile
The athletes had arrived on a red carpet in north London but Hodgkinson saved her starring moment for the main event.
The eye-catching speed suit, reminiscent of that worn by Cathy Freeman in winning Olympic 400m gold in 2000, featured an open back and a hood with a ponytail opening - the latter, she said, was non-negotiable - while colour-changing 3D-printed nodes reduced drag in key areas.
Paired with dark sunglasses and Nike's latest carbon-plated spikes, it helped Hodgkinson achieve her first victory since the London Diamond League in July.
It has been a year of record-breaking highs and frustrating setbacks for the Olympic champion.
An indoor season in which she landed her first world 800m title and smashed a 24-year world record heightened expectations that she would take down the sport's longest-standing mark outdoors.
But a nasty fall suffered on a post-session cool down run in July, and a recurrence of the hamstring injury which kept her out of action for much of 2025 at the European Championships, conspired to hinder her progress.
While still improving her British record this summer, Hodgkinson finished second to breakout Swiss star Audrey Werro at both the European Championships and inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
However, with Swiss athlete Valentina Rosamilia finishing more than two seconds behind, she ended the season with a smile on her face and a crown on her head as she danced on stage with the night's other winners.
Training partner Georgia Hunter Bell was pipped to victory in the mile by Poland's Klaudia Kazimierska.
Diamond League champion Kazimierska, who denied Hunter Bell in her bid to win a fourth major title of 2026 at last week's World Athletics Ultimate Championship, squeezed past on the inside to edge the Briton in four minutes 19.43 seconds.
That close finish left Ohanian in disbelief as he watched trackside alongside tennis great Williams and their children, with famous athletes and celebrities also present.
Former world champion Richardson stormed to victory in the 100m in 10.80 seconds, as Britons Imani-Lara Lansiquot (11.35) and Daryll Neita (11.36) placed fourth and fifth respectively.
Olympic 200m champion Thomas took victory in the final race of the night, winning the 200m in 22.13 seconds, while Dominican Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino overhauled Norway's Henriette Jaeger to win the 400m in 48.73 seconds.
There were also wins for Americans Alaysha Johnson in the 100m hurdles and Alyssa Jones in the long jump.
What is Athlos and is it here to stay?
Ohanian has been clear about his eventual intention to make Athlos a global season-long league.
Athlos was supposed to expand to a two-day event in 2026, but the New York meeting scheduled for 2 October was cancelled following consultation with the athletes at the end of a long season.
Instead, Ohanian now hopes to align Athlos within the global athletics calendar from next year.
How that will work remains to be seen. The Diamond League, athletics' premier season-long series, runs from May until September, while the introduction of the Ultimate Championship - joining the Olympics and the World Championships on the calendar - means every season will now feature a global competition of some description.
American Masai Russell, who broke the 100m hurdles world record last month, was among the late Athlos withdrawals following last week's Ultimate, organised by the sport's governing body and offering record prize pot of $10m.
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After a week in which countless female athletes denounced a controversial sports betting company advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, Ohanian said he wanted Friday's event to put the attention back on the "actual athletes".
It achieved just that, with some of the world's top female athletes going head-to-head in competitive events while also being allowed the space to express their personalities.
Ohanian is determined to bridge a perceived disconnect between the attention on the sport at each Olympic Games compared to the rest of the calendar in those four-year cycles.
The 43-year-old set up the Angel City FC women's football club in Los Angeles six years ago after leaving Reddit, and purchased a 10% stake in Women's Super League team Chelsea in 2025.
At Athlos, the athletes who have competed in its early events were offered equity in the league, the idea being that they will be rewarded if it is successful.
"I would have loved to have had this when I was younger. Hopefully the youngsters can see this and have their time one day," Hodgkinson said.
While some have criticised the exclusion of men's events, Ohanian said an initial focus on female athletes was a business decision and he has identified the 2028 edition, around the Los Angeles Olympics, an opportunity to expand in that regard.
Athlos lived up to hype
Athlos set out to be different, and it definitely felt that. There was as much showbusiness as there was sport - this was all about the "event".
Athletes arrived on bespoke London buses and walked the red carpet before their event. Several of the athletes said they enjoyed having the spotlight on them and being able to combine their sport with fashion and many will now be part of London Fashion Week.
Georgia Hunter Bell emerged from a melee of screaming children telling her she was their idol onto the red carpet and said she felt "valued".
It was certainly noisy, and the resident DJ meant at times it felt more like you were in a club than an athletics meet. But the athletes and fans seemed to buy into the vibe.
One man told me he had been to 27 world championships and five Olympics and wasn't sure he'd enjoy Athlos, but loved it. A woman whose daughter is part of the athletics club who train at StoneX Stadium said she thought it was "remarkable" and "inspirational".
There will be learnings from this first trip to London, but as a starting point, it felt like it lived up to its hype.