Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian beams with pride as daughter Olympia takes up track-and-field training
Serena Williams' husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has expressed delight at their seven-year-old daughter, Olympia, taking her first steps into track-and-field training. Ohanian recently shared a heartwarming image of Olympia running on a track even as he himself prepares for the second season of his groundbreaking all-women’s track competition, Athlos.
Athlos, an initiative spearheaded by Alexis Ohanian and his venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, made a historic debut with its inaugural competition, Athlos NYC, in September 2024. Hosted at New York’s Icahn Stadium, the event offered the largest prize purse in track-and-field history.
Athlos NYC saw 36 elite athletes from 14 nations compete across six events. It featured 30 Olympians in high-stakes races, including 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m sprints and 100m hurdles.
A proud father, Ohanian has consistently supported Olympia’s diverse athletic ventures, from tennis to golf, and now track and field. On February 9, 2025, Ohanian took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his daughter's track training journey, posting a picture of Olympia in action on the track. He captioned the post with a playful nod to his upcoming event:
"Training for @athlos 2025 😏"
During the inaugural Athlos event, Alexis Ohanian indulged daughter Olympia's request to run on the track after the event.
"She runs NY. Olympia had such a good time she asked to run the track at the end and I had to oblige. We gifted dozens of NY track youth tickets to this event because these kids deserve to be part of history - if they can see a professional path, everything changes," Serena Williams' husband wrote.
Alexis Ohanian once revealed Serena Williams' thoughts on their daughter Olympia competing at the national level
In an October 2024 interview with NBC News, Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian discussed the mission behind the Athlos NYC meet and his long-term vision for the event. During the conversation, he was questioned about a past remark suggesting that his daughter deserved to be paid what she was worth if she decided to pursued women's sports. Ohanian replied:
"Yeah, well credit to Serena. I was like, 'Hey, you know, Serena, wouldn't it be nice one day if Olympia played on the national tier,' and without missing a beat, Serena was like, 'Not until they pay her what she's worth,' and I'm like, 'Challenge accepted.'" [1:36 onwards]
In a separate interview on the 'On Purpose with Jay Shetty' podcast, Alexis Ohanian shared the one word he doesn't permit his daughter Olympia to use is 'can't'.