NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 10: Brittany Brown of the United States celebrates after winning the 200m as former American tennis player Serena Williams looks on during ATHLOS NYC25 on October 10, 2025 at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Athlos/Getty Images)
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Brittany Brown’s final meet of 2025 went about as perfect as possible.
The 30-year-old track and field professional not only secured the best race of her season in the final race of the year at the Athlos NYC meet on Friday at Icahn Stadium, but she added $120,000 to her bankroll, capping off the most successful 12 months she’s ever had as a pro.
With two signature wins in the women’s 100 meters and 200 meters, which included the world’s third-best time of 21.89 seconds in the 200m, Brown nabbed two simultaneous paydays of $60,000–payments that were sent directly to athletes by virtue of Athlos NYC’s deal with CashApp–and two custom Tiffany crowns.
Athlos paid out over $750,000 in 2025, roughly $100,000 more than a season ago, largely to the fact that it added women’s long jump to the bill. On Thursday night, the event began with the women’s long jump competition in Times Square before finishing off with a concert by Ciara on Friday.
“The environment is great for athletes to compete and run fast and run well,” said Brown, who added that a December surgery delayed her training and may have ultimately boosted her late-season kick. “I thrive off of this. Maybe it’s the environment that brings it out of me.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 10: Brittany Brown of the United States wins the 200m during ATHLOS NYC25 on October 10, 2025 at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images for Athlos)
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Brittany Brown Is At The Peak Of Her Powers
Best yet, it was the bookend of an incredible two-year run from Brown, who won a bronze medal in the women’s 200m at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was sixth in Tokyo at the 2025 World Championships in August. Over the past two years, she’s netted $205,000 at Athlos NYC, the women’s only track and field meet launched in 2024 by Alex Ohanian, claiming three wins and a runner-up finish.
In 2025 alone, in fact, Brown has secured $198,000 in prize money from meets across the world on top of a contract salary with Nike and any other appearance fees she’s earned across the season.
In track and field parlance, that’s simply rare for anyone not named Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone or Sha’Carri Richardson to command such finances through competition alone.
It’s also exactly the kind of breathing room an athlete like Brown will need to keep competing at the high level, especially when athlete expenses are traditionally built on top of a contract – an agent fee, a manager fee, physical therapy, travel and lodging, among many other factors.
Historically, track and field has not been a lucrative profession. Most athletes struggle, while the rare few are aided by six-figure contracts and sponsorships. Some work at jobs like Walmart and UPS. Others rely on sponsorships.
Then this year, things started to change with the debut of Grand Slam Track, which offered outrageous prize figures. The league promoted its $100,000 payouts to the winners of each new Slam.
The league’s current financial standing not withstanding – full payments to athletes, facilities and vendors remain in limbo – its athlete-first strategy did have a knock-on effect, leading to higher prize rates across the world, from the Diamond League to the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, which will launch in 2026.
Are We In A Track And Field Prize Money Bubble?
If track and field’s bubble of big paydays is just that, Brown is riding the wave at the perfect intersection of her career. Crazier is that it almost ended in August.
When Brown was fourth in the 200m at the USATF Outdoor Championships, she was forced to navigate the next few weeks with her season on the line. Next, she needed almost everything to go to plan.
But then it did.
Brown was second in the 200m at the Silesia Diamond League on Aug. 16, then won four days later in Lausanne, earning a trip to the Wanda Diamond League final. There, just eight days later, she won the 200m and earned a wildcard to the World Championships, booking her second straight trip to a major meet.
Those results weren’t without their own paydays, either.
From the U.S. Championships to the Diamond League final, Brown scooped up $49,300 in prize money. She followed at the World Championships the following month and reached the women’s 200m final, finishing sixth with a $7,000 payout.
Brittany Brown Closes Out 2025 In Style
On Friday, closing out her year, Brown ran times of 10.99 and 21.89–despite less than optimal temperatures in New York.
In the 100m, which kicked off at 6:47 p.m. EST, Brown fought back over a gutsy last 30 meters to lean past Jacious Sears by two-hundredths of a second (in just her second 100m of the season). About an hour later, she left the field in her dust, gapping Anavia Battle (22.21) and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (22.65).
Over the last 90 days, Brown has won four races, netting $160,000. That emergence has also given her career a second-life.
Last May, after winning the 200m out of lane eight in Oslo at the Diamond League, Brown was frustrated – enough so that in her post-race interview, she told an interviewer, “I just want a little respect.”
The track Gods may have heard her, because month later she qualified for the Olympic Games. Three weeks after that, she signed a contract with Nike.
Another two months on, she won a bronze medal at the Olympics.
Brown turned 30 in April. But that life milestone hasn’t been a deterrent, either.
She’s had the most successful season of her career since.
“Perfect timing, I guess,” she said. “Sometimes things just take time.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/corymull/2025/10/11/brittany-brown-is-riding-the-track-and-field-wave-wins-120k-at-athlos-nyc/
