Athlos London: Keely Hodgkinson powers to victory in speed suit at all-female event

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.

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.

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.

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.

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