The Tokyo World Athletics Championships may now be three weeks over but the season is not done yet for Halimah Nakaayi.
The 2019 world 800 metres champion Nakaayi feels she still has unfinished business for 2025 and an overview can be made after she competes at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next month.
With pretty few races available before Saudi, Nakaayi for a second year running has been privileged to be among the selected few to compete at the lavish Athlos event tonight in New York, USA.
‘I thank the almighty God I am really blessed to be part of Athlos again, I was given this opportunity because of my consistency in the sport,’ said Nakaayi.
Started by tennis legend Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian after the Paris Olympics last year, Athlos is a professional female-only track and field meeting series at Icahn Stadium in New York City.
Only six track events are considered; 100 metres, 200 metres, 100 metres hurdles, 400 metres, 800 metres and the mile each with a field of six competitors headlined by an Olympic or world champion.
Athlos empowers and champions women in sport. ‘It was a very unique feeling,’ Nakaayi recalls in the first edition. She met with Ohanian and his daughter Olympia.
‘Traveling by business class, everything was VIP like car services, luxury accommodations, provision of shopping vouchers with $1000, we received very many gifts and empowering women in the sport through celebrating the athletes’ personalities, their stories and performances.’
In the two-lap event, Nakaayi will face familiar faces like Olympic queen Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and country-mate Georgia Bell, Commonwealth champion Kenyan Mary Moraa and Jamaican veteran Natoya Goule-Toppin with hefty prize money on offer.
But it’s more than that for Nakaayi. She was disappointed to clocked one minute and 57.79 seconds in the semi-final Heats at the Tokyo Worlds in Japan but it wasn’t enough to make it to the final.
By performing at Athlos, Nakaayi hopes she can boost her mojo ahead of the Riyadh do.
Meanwhile, Ohanian’s team has this year introduced the women’s long jump with a contest set to happen at Times Square in Broadway and it will be headlined by Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall.
ATHLOS
Genre: Outdoor track and field
Venue: Icahn Stadium
Location: New York City, USA
Inaugurated: 2024
Founder: Alexis Ohanian (Serena William’s husband)
Ugandan Competitor: Halimah Nakaayi (800 Metres)
Tomorrow’s Race Time: 3.10am (Kampala) / 8.10pm (New York)