Track legend Michael Johnson satisfied after opening Grand Slam series event

KINGSTON – Michael Johnson is confident that his Grand Slam Track will go from strength to strength, as the curtain came down on the circuit’s inaugural meet in Kingston on April 6, after three days of action in a mostly empty stadium.

Conceived by Johnson as a way of reinvigorating interest in athletics outside of Olympic years, his four-event series aims to showcase more races between the world’s best runners, sprinters and hurdlers.

But while the athletes in Kingston served up some high-quality performances, the opening event failed to capture the imagination of spectators, with swathes of empty seats at the National Stadium.

Filling the stands proved tricky, even as the meet boasted the likes of Olympic champion Gabrielle Thomas, who won the long sprints group on April 5, and local outlets reported that free tickets were on offer for the final two days.

Few places in the world can rival Jamaica in its love for track, but for a third day in a row, large areas of the stands sat empty, drawing critics online as images of empty seats circulated on social media.

Johnson, though, believes that engagement of fans who packed the main tribune on April 6 augurs well for the circuit in future.

“Obviously, look, let’s be honest. We would love to see more spectators here, you know?” he said.

“We think we’ll get that. We think that’ll happen. But the crowd was engaged, and that’s what’s really important. People were really engaged with what’s happening here.”

Johnson also said while the competition ran smoothly, his staff had spotted several unspecified issues which would need to be ironed out in time for the next May 2-4 meet in Miami.

“Everything went smooth from a competition standpoint,” he said.

“But we had a few things behind the scenes that we didn’t like. Other people probably didn’t notice it, but we did... we will look at everything. We noticed lots of different things. But those aren’t the things we’re going to get into right now.

“Right now, we’re just celebrating that we had a great event, athletes and fans enjoyed it. We’ll continue to improve.”

While the series has so far failed to attract several high-profile athletes – Olympic men’s and women’s 100m champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred are notable absentees – Johnson said Grand Slam race director Kyle Merber had already been fielding calls from athletes hoping to race on the circuit.

“His phone has been ringing quite a bit, and that’s exactly what we want,” Johnson said, adding that he expects new faces to join the field for events in Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

On the final day of action in Kingston, world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone took the long hurdles Slam. The two-time 400m hurdles Olympic champion left the Jamaican capital US$100,000 (S$135,000) richer after winning her signature event on April 4 and taking the 400m flat in a casual 50.32 seconds for the overall long hurdles title.

“Just got to execute, focus on yourself,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, who added that she was tempted to attempt some of the circuit’s other groups, including the short hurdles and long sprints.

McLaughlin-Levrone was one of several athletes to receive the top prize on April 6.

Former 400m hurdles world champion Alison dos Santos bagged the long hurdles title after winning the flat 400m in 45.52sec.

In the men’s short hurdles category, France’s Sasha Zhoya, second in the 110m hurdles earlier in the competition, won the 100m in 10.55sec to take the combined title.

The women’s short hurdles, meanwhile, was won by Jamaica’s Danielle Williams, who followed up her second-place finish in the 100m hurdles with first in the 100m, winning in 11.54sec. AFP, REUTERS