Athlos London: Keely Hodgkinson powers to victory in speed suit at all-female event

Keely Hodgkinson powered to victory in a custom-made full-body speed suit before being presented with a Tiffany & Co crown as Athlos made its London debut.

Hodgkinson was greeted by loud cheers as she emerged on to a stage and revealed the all-black aerodynamic outfit at the third staging of the all-female athletics meet.

The 24-year-old ensured she ended a mixed year with a dominant 800m victory in front of a sellout home crowd at StoneX Stadium, bursting clear on the back straight and crossing the line in one minute 56.40 seconds.

Speaking about the outfit, Hodgkinson told The MediaSport: “This has been like a year in the making. It’s a mixture of fashion and speed and science all coming together for maybe the future of athletics.

“It was a real honour for them to choose me to put this out first. We weren’t sure when we were going to wear it.

“But an all-women’s event that’s all about the glitz and the glamour and putting eyes on women, a bit of a moment, I think was the perfect way to finish the season.”

Created by Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband of tennis’ 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, Athlos was staging a meet for the first time outside of New York.

In addition to the silver Tiffany crown awarded to winners instead of medals, a top prize of $65,000 (£48,500) was on offer in each event.

The single-night meet included seven disciplines, each featuring six athletes, with fundson offer for each position from a total event prize pot of $1.05m (£790,500).

American sprint stars Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson were among the champions amid a party atmosphere which featured a live track-side DJ.