Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian talks about potentially helping Michael Johnson with $19 million payment struggles

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian has opened up about the possibility of helping Michael Johnson, whose brainchild, Grand Slam Track, finds itself in a financial hole.

The track league has failed to pay promotional fees and prize money to the participating athletes and winners and faces a $19 million shortfall, according to The Athletic. GST launched in Jamaica this year with a promise to revolutionize track, but was canceled before the last stop in Los Angeles.

On the "Ready Set Go" podcast, Ohanian, who launched Athlos last year, was asked by hosts Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green whether he would be open to helping out Johnson.

"I think the premise of the question is interesting because if I'm in trouble, I'm usually the one making the call to someone else, right?" Ohanian said (1:14:10 onwards). "The person bailing you out is not the one usually calling up asking for the thing, right? It usually goes the other way."

Michael Johnson, an eight-time Olympic gold medalist, announced the launch of GST in 2024, with the league claiming it had received a financial commitment of $30 million from strategic partners and investors.

According to The Athletic, that amount was never secured and Johnson instead began working with $13 million, admitting that the payment delays were due to drug-testing protocols and adjustments to tariffs under President Trump.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Melissa Jeffersen-Wooden, Gabby Thomas, Kenny Bednarek, and Josh Kerr are reportedly among the athletes yet to receive their prize money and appearance fees.

Alexis Ohanian's Athlos making waves

Serena Williams' husband at the WSJ's Future of Everything 2025 - Source: Getty

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, has been an active supporter of women's sports and has invested in several clubs, including the NWSL's new franchise, Angel City FC.

He also launched Athlos, a women's-only track and field series, last year, promising prize money six times that of the Diamond League, with winners receiving their payouts within three business days. This time, the Reddit co-founder has taken it up a notch by introducing instant payouts and a bonus $250,000 for world records.

"Admin is going TOO hard: instant payments?? $250K world-record bonus!?!? ATHLOS changed the game, again," he wrote.

Athlos will feature Olympic champions Tara Davis-Woodhall, Sha'Carri Richardson, and Faith Kipyegon, among others.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder