Gabrielle Thomas, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone notch wins as Grand Slam Track debuts

KINGSTON – Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to victory as the opening leg of the new Grand Slam Track athletics circuit got under way in Jamaica on April 4.

American track star McLaughlin-Levrone – racing in her signature event for the first time since winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics – romped home in 52.76 seconds at Kingston’s National Stadium.

The 25-year-old, who will also race in the 400m on April 6, was always in control and had opened a significant lead as she came off the final bend before pulling away to finish several metres clear of 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who was second in 54.59sec.

“You know, just shaking the cobwebs off,” McLaughlin-Levrone said, after her first race of 2025. “The first one always hurts, but happy to be here.”

McLaughlin-Levrone is now in pole position to claim the US$100,000 (S$135,000) being offered to the athlete with the best combined result from the 400m hurdles and 400m.

The lucrative prize money on offer is one of the notable features of the four-event series, which was conceived by United States Olympic legend Michael Johnson with the aim of revitalising interest in track racing.

The opening action of a series billed as the dawn of a new era for the sport was played out in front of a mostly empty stadium.

In other action on April 4, Olympic 200m champion Gabrielle Thomas was a similarly emphatic winner in her specialist race.

The 28-year-old surged home in 22.62sec to finish well clear of Marileidy Paulino, the Dominican Republic’s Paris Olympics 400m gold medallist, who clocked 22.93sec.

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was third in 22.96sec.

“It’s really exciting to be here,” Thomas said after her win.

She said the prize money offered by the circuit had created an unusually intense degree of competition for an early-season event.

“Normally, these early-season meets we’re just practising and feeling it out,” Thomas said. “Here... the stakes are high, the prize pot is huge and the level of competition is also really high.

“That’s not something that we’re really used to in our sport and I think it’s really good.”

In the men’s 100m, where Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles was a notable absentee, two-time Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek took victory in a thrilling duel with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville.

US sprinter Bednarek took the tape in 10.07sec, with Seville second in 10.08sec. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was third in 10.13sec, while American Fred Kerley, the 2022 world 100m champion, was seventh in 10.30sec.

“It’s my first time being in Jamaica and you can definitely hear the crowd, they’re electrifying,” said Bednarek, who will race in the 200m on April 5. That race started after press time.

“My block starts have gotten a lot better this year, but that race didn’t really show it. I ended up struggling. But a win is a win and I’m happy to be here.”

Ethiopian Ejgayehu Taye won the 3,000m and American Nikki Hiltz won the 800m to round out the four women’s races of the day.

In other men’s events, Christopher Bailey of the US won the 400m, Brazilian Alison dos Santos won the 400m hurdles and American Grant Fisher won the 5,000m. AFP, REUTERS