"Serena Williams doesn’t know jack s**t";"She’s boring": Fans criticize American’s ‘embarrassing’ hosting skills at Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos 2025 event

Fans criticized Serena Williams' hosting skills at her husband, Alexis Ohanian's event, Athlos 2025. The American tennis icon made several mistakes while referring to the female track and field athletes at the event.

Athlos is a one-of-a-kind event that recognizes female track and field athletes and gives them a glamorous platform to compete and showcase their skills. After the succes of the event last year in New York, this year, Athlos returned to the Icahn Stadium for its second edition.

In the 2025 edition, long jump was also added to the roster of events and Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall also participated. Notably, Serena Williams, wife of founder of Athlos, Alexis Ohanian, was part of the 'crowning' ceremony as winners were felicitated with crowns instead of the traditional medals.

During the 100m crown presentation, Williams was surprised to learn the winner, Brittany Brown, had another race, saying:

"Oh, you got another race. I didn’t know."

She also mispronounced Tara Davis-Woodhall’s name as “Tara Davis-Woodhill,” blaming it on her “southern accent,” and during the awards for the 800m, she failed to announce Keely Hodgkinson’s name before telling the crowd to “give it up.”

These mistakes prompted fans to express disappointment that the tennis icon seemed unfamiliar with basic facts about the athletes she was celebrating.

"Serena Williams doesn’t know jack s**t omg 😭 she’s never heard of these athletes before tonight!" one fan wrote. "She's boringg has no energy at all. Alexis don't need to have her announcing the winners of she aint gone be a Lil hyped," another fan wrote. "Finally yall see this isn’t bettering the sport," a third fan wrote.

Here are a few more fan reactions criticizing Serena Williams' Athlos appearance.

"All Serena needed was to do her homework or have a good PA. This reflects on her," one fan wrote. "Kinda embarrassing tbh. Then the Paulino crowning was awkward," another fan wrote. "I'm a mega Serena fan but yeah she was just out there for the wow factor. 😂😂😂" yet another fan wrote.

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Serena Williams praised her husband Alexis Ohanian and his dedication toward his businesses

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian at the 2025 Athlos NYC - Source: Getty

Serena Williams spoke about her husband Alexis Ohanian and his dedication to build businsess during her appearance at Athlos 2025. She acknowledged his success in building impactful ventures and praised his achievements in soccer and other projects.

"Well, I've learnt don't doubt Alexis because he builds businesses and he makes it great. We have seen what he did with soccer and so many other people that he believed in and how it changed their trajectory, and so, when he told me about wanting to build something in track and field, I, of course, loved it, supported it, and then I thought, 'Wow, why hasn't this been done before?' You know what I mean," Serena Williams said (17:40 onwards).

She added that the initiative was long overdue, emphasizing that the women and athletes involved “deserve this for years and years.”

During his promotional appearance on ESPN First Take, Alexis Ohanian explained that his motivation for launching Athlos came from his admiration for track and field athletes, calling them “incredible.”

He noted that while the sport garners massive viewership during the Olympics, it quickly fades from the spotlight afterward. Drawing parallels to his experience founding Angel City FC, Ohanian said he saw an opportunity to give these women the year-round recognition they deserve.

Edited by Aliasgar Ayaz