Alexis Ohanian gives $1000 to kid dressed as Angel Reese for Halloween (Images via Getty)

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian's $1000 Halloween bounty goes to kid dressed as Angel Reese

Modified Nov 02, 2024 17:47 GMT

As part of his efforts to promote women's sports, Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, initiated a campaign to offer a $1000 reward to kids who dressed as their favorite female athletes for this year's Halloween. As part of this initiative, Serena Williams' partner rewarded a child after being impressed by her Angel Reese costume.

The idea of the campaign was suggested by The Sports Bra, a sports bar in Portland, Oregon, especially dedicated to promoting women in sports. On Tuesday, October 29, it shared a picture on X (formerly Twitter) of a girl dressed as the reigning triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and pledged to repost pictures of kids dressed as their favorite athletes.

The post caught the attention of Ohanian, who reposted it and proposed a contest. He encouraged parents to dress their children as their favorite sportsperson and tag The Sports Bra in their posts. CEO Jenny was given the responsibility to pick the winner, and $1000 was offered to be awarded to the winner.

In an update on the contest, Ashton Washington's daughter was declared the winner for her Angel Reese-inspired costume, which not only received praise from the Chicago Sky star herself, but Ohanian took to his Instagram and congratulated the kid on her victory and commended her for donating her toys.

"Congrats on an EXCELLENT Halloween costume of @angelreese5 -- enjoy the $1000 and good on ya for donating those old toys, too!!" Alexis Ohanian captioned his Instagram story

Alexis Ohanian shared the inspiration behind his investments in women’s sports

Alexis Ohanian at the Empowering the Next Generation to Build a Better Future - 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals (Source: Getty)

Alexis Ohanian has been steadfast in championing women's sports, and as part of this, the American entrepreneur launched Athlos NYC this year—a track meet dedicated to female athletes with substantial prize money. When asked about his motivation for investing in women’s sports, he said in September 2024:

"Just as a casual sports fan, you know Wilma Rudolph, you know Allyson Felix. There have been multiple eras of American women greatness in track. And it’s a sport that you’re paying attention to, again, every four years. It’s very simple to explain, even easier than soccer to play. It’s global. And yet, I was like, ‘What do these women do in between Olympics?" (via RUN)

He added:

"I just reached out to the very best and thankfully they were very receptive to my dumb questions as I tried to get smart about the sport. And, and I thought, ‘Well damn, OK. Just like with women’s soccer, let’s just focus on creating the best opportunity, the best environment for what these women want, and the rest will take care of itself."

After the success of Athlos NYC 2024, Ohanian announced that the competition will make a comeback next year with an even more impressive showcase.