The Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) won the 1,500m gold at the new Atlas women’s track and field event held in New York. At the same time, Paris bronze medalist Brittany Brown beat Olympic champion Gabrielle Thomas in the 200m event.
The competition was created by entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian with the goal of consistently bringing together the elite in women’s athletics. The champions in each discipline earn 60,000 USD, twice as much as the Diamond League.
Faith Kipyegon, who won a third straight Olympic title in Paris, cemented her status as the queen of the long distances by finishing the 1,500m in 4:04.79 min. Diribe Welteji (Ethiopia) finished more than a second behind her, while Susan Ejore-Sanders (kenya) finished third.
Gabby Thomas was leading the 200m in the final 50m when she was overtaken by Brittany Brown, who finished in 22.18 sec.
“I feel like the sport is changing and I’m happy to be a part of it. It’s a new race and we’re doing something new”, said Brittany Brown
Marie-Josee Ta Lou (Ivory Coast) won the 100m sprint in 10.98 sec, with Brittany Brown finishing second in the event, seven hundredths of a second behind.
Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic) won the 400m in 49.59 sec, while Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the 100m hurdles in 12.36 sec, just two weeks after she also won the Diamond League final.
Paris 2024 Olympics silver medalist Tsige Duguma (Ethiopia) won the 800m with a time of 1:57.43 min.