Athletics world watching as ‘Grand Slam Track’ prepares for launch

KINGSTON – What is being billed as a “revolution” for the sport of athletics gets under way in Kingston on April 4 with the opening meeting of United States sprinting legend Michael Johnson’s ambitious Grand Slam Track series.

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Johnson believes the four-event circuit represents a landmark moment for athletics, a bold new attempt to reinvigorate interest in the sport after years of decline.

Johnson, 57, says the format of his new circuit – which promises to create more head-to-head races between the world’s best track athletes – represents a winning formula that will bring eyeballs back to the sport outside the pinnacle of Olympic competition.

“People love racing. People want to see the best of the best. And at the core of Grand Slam Track is the best of the best athletes, only the fastest, competing head-to-head against one another four times a year,” Johnson said of his new circuit in 2024.

Fittingly, the action gets under way in Jamaica, long-regarded as the spiritual home of sprinting, before moving to meetings in Miami (May 2 to 4), Philadelphia (May 30 to June 1) and Los Angeles (June 27 to 29).

Uniquely, Grand Slam Track has 48 athletes under contract who will be present at all four competitions, with 48 “challengers” joining the field at each event.

The financial stakes for participating athletes are attractive, with prize money ranging from US$100,000 (S$134,000) for the winner of each group to US$10,000 for runner-up.

This week’s opening leg in Kingston will feature some 32 medallists from the Paris Olympics, including American women’s 400m hurdles star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas.

But, in a significant blow to Johnson’s hopes of attracting the “best of the best” in their respective events, neither of the reigning Olympic 100m champions – American Noah Lyles and Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred – are in the field.

Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning women’s 100m world champion and runner-up in Paris, and men’s 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, are also notable absentees from a largely US-Caribbean field that has opted to exclude jumps and throws, much to the chagrin of purists.

European athletes have also largely sidestepped an event which falls early in the season, and just weeks after the indoor World Championships in China.

Johnson says absenteeism is inevitable for an event in its inaugural year, and understandably prefers to put the emphasis on the athletes who will be in Kingston.

“All the athletes are not going to come in Year One,” he told Citius Mag in a recent interview.

“You can over-index and get hyper-focused on who’s not here, which, in my opinion, is somewhat disrespectful to the 48 who are here.”

Lyles recently expressed scepticism at the league’s ability to attract sponsors.

“Money is not the thing that’s going to drive me every time,” Lyles said. “I’m looking, who are your outside sponsors? Who are your non-track and field sponsors?“

Lyles’ American teammate Rai Benjamin, the Olympic 400m hurdles champion, has also questioned the financial viability of the circuit.

“I look at it as a business,” Benjamin said. “At the end of the day, if there’s no ROI (return on investment), then you have a failed business model.

“And it’s like, how long could you be sustainable?” AFP