• Kipyegon kicked off her 2024 season by shattering her own 1500m world record at the Paris Diamond League, where she clocked 3:49.04, ahead of Australia’s Jessica Hull (3:50.83) and Britain's Laura Muir (3:53.79)
• In the 800m, Moraa will renew her rivalry with Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma.
Image: TEAM KENYA
Three-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon and Olympic 800m bronze medallist Mary Moraa are set to headline the highly anticipated Athlos meet in New York this Thursday.
Athlos is a unique, women-only track and field event featuring six races: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and 100m hurdles.
The meet is a brainchild of Alexis Ohanian, Reddit's co-founder and Serena Williams' husband.
“We want to bring something to this sport that hasn't quite been done before. It’s a privilege to invest in women athletes,” Ohanian said.
“We’ve set a record with our Sh7.7 million ($60,000) cash prize, double what an athlete would earn at the end of a typical season.”
The event has a total prize pot of Sh14.3 million ($110,500) per race, with the winners taking home Sh7.7 million ($60,000).
Runners-up will pocket Sh3.2 million ($25,000) while third-place finishers will earn Sh1.2 million ($10,000).
Other beneficiaries of the prize money will include fourth-placed (Sh1.03 million -$8,000), fifth (Sh645,872 - $5,000) and sixth (Sh322,936 - $2,500) place finishers.
Kipyegon kicked off her 2024 season by shattering her own 1500m world record at the Paris Diamond League, where she clocked 3:49.04, ahead of Australia’s Jessica Hull (3:50.83) and Britain's Laura Muir (3:53.79).
Her time eclipsed her previous mark of 3:49.11 set last year in Florence.
She followed it up with a stellar performance at the Paris Olympics, claiming silver in the 10,000m (14:29.60) and setting an Olympic record in the 1500m (3:51.29) to secure her third Olympic title in the event.
After Paris, Kipyegon featured in the Rome Diamond League last month claiming victory in 3:52.89 and went on to lift the Diamond League finals trophy after clocking 3:54.75.
Kipyegon followed her Olympic triumph with a win in the Rome meeting (3:52.89) and capped it off with another victory in the Diamond League finals in Brussels clocking 3:54.75.
Despite falling just short of her record in recent outings, she’s eager to close her season on a high note.
“Hopefully, I will finish my season in New York in a good way. It will be my last race of the season,” Kipyegon said after her win in Brussels.
In New York, Kipyegon will face familiar foes in Gufaf Tsegay, the 2020 Olympic bronze medallist and World 1500m silver medallist Diribe Welteji both of Ethiopia.
The lineup also includes 2011 Pan American Junior champion Cory McGee (USA) and Britain’s Katie Snowden, alongside fellow Kenyan Susan Ejore.
In the 800m, Moraa will renew her rivalry with Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma.
At the Paris Olympics, Moraa took bronze in 1:57.42, behind Duguma (1:57.15) and Britain’s Keeley Hodgkinson (1:56.72). Despite missing out on gold, Moraa has had a remarkable season.
She broke the women’s 600m world record with a time of 1:21.63 at the ISTAF Berlin meet, shaving 0.14 seconds off the previous record held by Caster Semenya.
She clinched the 800m Diamond League final trophy with a season-best time of 1:56.56— leading Britain's Georgia Bell (1:57.50) and Jamaica's Natoya Toppin (1:58.94).
Duguma, though absent from competition since the Olympics, boasts an impressive resume with the World Indoor title and the 2023 African crown under her belt.
Joining the mix will be Natoya, Uganda's Nakaayi Halimah (the 2019 World champion) and American Addy Wiley and Nia Akins.