Heading into its second year, the women-only track meet Athlos has secured a major sponsor to ensure athletes get paid—fast. On Thursday, co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced that Cash App will be the official payments sponsor, promising what he calls “a faster future.”
Last year’s payouts took three business days, which Ohanian says wasn’t good enough. “This year, Cash App is enabling immediate prize payments for all eligible athletes the moment results are confirmed,” he said.
We’re partnering with @CashApp as our official Payments Partner to bring a faster future to track & field – on the track and at the finish line – introducing a new model for how performance turns into pay.
This year, Cash App is enabling immediate prize payments for all eligible… pic.twitter.com/41RvO66Wpo
— ATHLOS (@athlos) October 2, 2025
The partnership doesn’t stop there. Cash App has also put up a $250,000 world-record bonus for any athlete who breaks a global mark at Athlos NYC on Oct. 11. That means the mobile payment service might want to keep a transfer ready for three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon, who has already rewritten the women’s 1,500m record once this year. At Athlos, she will compete in the women’s mile.
Although it hasn’t been directly stated, the move from Athlos comes in the wake of the Grand Slam Track expenses scandal, where athletes and vendors are still waiting on an estimated $19 million in unpaid bills after an investor pulled out in April. Grand Slam Track founder and American Olympian Michael Johnson promised athletes payments by the end of July, and then by September, yet athletes and vendors are still waiting.
Athlos launched last September at New York City’s Icahn Stadium and reportedly drew nearly three million viewers across X, YouTube, ESPN+ and DAZN worldwide. With a record-breaking US$663,000 prize purse (the largest ever for a women-only track event), it set the tone for a new model in track and field. This year, organizers are promising to go “bigger and better.”
The one-night track event has already landed some of the sport’s top talent for 2025, including newly-minted double world sprint champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, 800m star Keely Hodgkinson and Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall.
Although there will be faster payment, all awards at Athlos will still be subject to anti-doping rules and World Athletics record ratification.
