Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian finds inspiration in McKenzie Long's words ahead of Zurich Diamond League

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, expressed his reaction to McKenzie Long sharing the contribution of her mother towards her track career. Long is a prominent 100m and 200m sprinter and has registered some impressive performances in this ongoing 2025 season.

She has clinched several podium finishes in prominent meets such as the Paris Diamond League, where she finished third in the 200m event, and the Adidas Atlanta City Games, where she was second in the 100m event. Owing to these performances, Long has also qualified for the 2025 Diamond League finals in Zurich, set to be held later this week.

Speaking in an interview before this event, Long spoke about the contribution of her mother to her track success. She shared that her mother never wanted her to give up, and thereby is a major motivation behind her decision to continue her track and field career. She said (via Athlos):

"My mom is my biggest drive. I just know that she wouldn't want me to quit. That's why I am stll going to this day."

Ohanian reacted to this post, sharing it on his Instagram stories, adding:

"Mom Power I know this feeling"

Ohanian's reaction to Long's interview (Image via: @alexisohanian on IG)

Notably, Alexis Ohanian himself was very close to his mother, who passed away in 2008 due to brain cancer.

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Alexis Ohanian shares his honest perspective about the business aspect of Athlos

Alexis Ohanian (Image via: Getty)

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, recently shed light on the business aspect of his women-only track meet, Athlos. Ohanian is also expanding the meet to a league-based format from next year, and several top-notch athletes such as Sha'Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas are associated with it.

Speaking in an interview, Ohanian remarked that his developing league doesn't get the eye-catching media deals like the other top professional leagues, but also added that he sees a huge business opportunity in women's sports. He said (via CNBC Television, 5:20 onwards):

"Women's sports is not a charity, the reason I have been investing in it in the last five years is because it is a tremendous business opportunity. So, I am glad we are talking about this. Traditional Big Four sports leagues make eye popping dollar for media rights because they have massive audiences that are tuning in.

"When you're an emerging league, it is very hard to solve that chicken egg problem, because you're building it from scratch and you're not going to have a media rights deal that is close to an eye-popping number."

During the conversation, Alexis Ohanian also remarked that due to the absence of these prominent media deals, his track meet focused mainly on brand partnerships.