WATCH: Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian beams with pride as he visits Nike’s Serena Williams Building, an ode to his wife’s legendary career
The Serena Williams Building is the biggest building created by Nike to pay tribute to one of the greatest athletes ever.
Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams (Images via IMAGO, Instagram)
Former World No. 1 Serena Williams needs no introduction. The American made herself a global icon through her legendary tennis career and is now a full-time entrepreneur. As she continues to scale the business world, her legacy in tennis continues to amaze not only her fans but her family too.
Williams’ husband and Reddit’s co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, was recently in Beaverton, Oregon, at the Nike headquarters. He paid a visit to the Serena Williams Building, the largest building ever created by the sports giants.
The 1-million-square-foot campus was inaugurated in April 2022 as the company celebrated its 50th anniversary. Ohanian posted multiple stories on his Instagram with different frames of his superstar wife. One of the videos showed Ohanian posing in front of a photo frame of him and Williams together.
He joked about it being the ‘most popular painting’ in the entire building, claiming it was no surprise. The next video showed him walking past a huge wall-sized poster of Williams in her Wimbledon look. The 40-year-old again took a dig, saying it was the only time his wife was taller than him.
He also showed off the ‘Olympia Theatre’ named after his and Williams’ elder daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian. He eventually posed outside the building where the 23-time Grand Slam singles title winner’s name was written, like every fan would.
Serena Williams signed with Nike in 2003
By 2003, a young Williams had won four Grand Slam singles titles. She completed the career slam by winning the 2003 Australian Open, becoming the sixth woman ever to do so. At that point, she was holding all four of the Majors, a feat dubbed ‘Serena Slam’ by the media.
Owing to her rising success, Nike approached a then-21-year-old Williams for a multi-million-dollar and multi-year contract. As per Investopedia, the American inked a contract worth $55 million spread over eight years. The partnership has only improved since then, with the American retired wearing a custom Nike outfit.
Over the years, Williams and Nike collaborated on numerous occasions to decide her outfit, which was both a fashion statement while not compromise with the comfort on the court. This included her famous ‘Catsuit’ outfit that led to the implementation of the dress code at the French Open since the 2018 edition.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)