Grand Slam Track: Michael Johnson’s New Athletics Series and Its Implications

“My desire is to raise the profile of the sport,” stated Johnson. Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track initiative is scheduled to commence its inaugural season in 2025. This raises questions about its nature, its potential impact on athletics, and whether it could extend to the UK. Johnson, an American four-time Olympic champion, introduced Grand Slam Track in June, preceding the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which represent athletics’ quadrennial global highlight. To capitalize on the attention and enthusiasm the sport generates every four years during the Games, Johnson’s objective is to sustain this interest by bringing together the world’s top athletes for four three-day competitions annually. “My objective is to create the opportunities that athletes have always wanted and to put them on a stage that is worthy of their greatness, with races that mean something,” Johnson informed BBC Sport. He added, “To do that you have to have the best competing against each other. That is what is compelling about the biggest sports in the world. That’s what we’re creating.” Significant athlete announcements and substantial prize money have contributed to generating interest, while other stakeholders have been compelled to respond, and those excluded have voiced their disapproval. Johnson was involved in Los Angeles’ successful bid to host the 2028 Olympics, and the city has also been designated as a Grand Slam Track venue for 2025. By facilitating more frequent direct contests between the world’s fastest men and women, Grand Slam Track aims to heighten competition and rivalries among athletes who might otherwise seldom compete against each other, benefiting both the athletes and their fans. As a former competitor, Johnson, who has served as a pundit for BBC Sport since 2001, also seeks to ensure athletes receive appropriate financial compensation. In addition to a $12.6m (£10m) prize fund, 48 contracted ‘racers’ will be paid a base salary to participate in all four slams. The operational structure involves 48 challengers joining the contracted racers at each slam, organized into six groups for men and women: short and long sprints, short and long hurdles, and short and long distance. Each athlete will compete in two events. Athletes earn points based on their finishing positions in both races. The combined results determine the champion of each slam, who will receive $100,000 (£79,500). Three of the initial four host cities are located in the United States, with events in Miami, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles following the opening event in Kingston, Jamaica. Johnson explained that the decision was made to concentrate on the US audience during the first year and refuted claims that UK Athletics had declined an opportunity to host a Grand Slam Track event. “UK Athletics didn’t decline to have a Grand Slam Track event,” Johnson stated. He further clarified, “We engaged with 10 interested cities around the globe and we decided for year one that we wanted to focus our energy on the US.” Johnson indicated future possibilities, saying, “We will continue to engage with interested cities. As we look to expand and rotate, that [a UK event] certainly will be a possibility.” In 2025, athletes will have a global outdoor championship to aim for a fifth consecutive year, following the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. A third World Championships in four years is scheduled for Tokyo next September, alongside a World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March. The Diamond League, the sport’s established professional circuit, will host 15 meetings again in 2025 and has announced a record prize money total of $9.2m (£7.3m) as it endeavors to attract athlete participation within a busy calendar. American star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the 400m hurdles Olympic champion and world record holder, was the first racer confirmed in June. Her inclusion is notable given her history of infrequent competition. Johnson commented on her participation, stating, “What Sydney represents is the issue with the sport. When I asked why she doesn’t race much she said she likes to race but, when she does, she wants it to mean something.” On Tuesday, Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas was confirmed as the 38th of 48 full-season racers. The entire Olympic men’s 1500m podium is expected to compete, with Great Britain’s Josh Kerr joining gold medallist Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse. Matthew Hudson-Smith, Daryll Neita, and Josh Kerr are the three British athletes who have signed agreements thus far. Notable athletes absent from the roster include Jakob Ingebrigtsen, whose anticipated contest with Kerr was a highlight in Paris, and Femke Bol, McLaughlin-Levrone’s primary rival. Daryll Neita became the first British woman to sign in November, with Olympic 400m silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith also joining. They are joined by world 800m champion Mary Moraa, though two members of that event’s ‘Big Three’ competitors, Britain’s Olympic gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson and American Athing Mu, are not participating. Johnson’s most significant decision has been the exclusion of field events, effectively half of the sport of athletics. Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers believes Grand Slam Track cannot achieve its stated goals of change without incorporating field events. The European indoor long jump champion told the Telegraph, external: “[Johnson] talks about revolutionising the sport, but in its current iteration that’s not happening. The sport is athletics, that’s the sport that’s given him the life that he has.” Concurrently, the USA’s two-time reigning Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman defended field eventers as athletes who “want to compete the most” and expressed hope that new competitions “recognise that track and field is a total package.” Responding to the criticism following this decision, Johnson stated, “I love this sport. But I have had time to reconcile the fact that if we continue to just do the same thing, tell people that ‘you should love this’ or ‘you should understand this’ – that doesn’t work.” He elaborated, “Grand Slam Track is track, that is what we’re doing. I am going to save what I think I can save; I think I can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.” Johnson further explained his rationale: “Putting the two together works at the Olympics and World Championships, but I’m not sure it works when you’re trying to create a professional sport outside of those global competitions.” Field event athletes, including pole vault star Mondo Duplantis, have been excluded from Grand Slam Track. Other entities are also adapting to the evolving landscape, notably World Athletics, which announced a new three-day competition this year. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which will include field events, is set to debut in 2026, with champions earning $150,000 (£118,000) at the end-of-season event. The sport’s governing body, which introduced prize money at the Olympics this summer, is exploring novel approaches to engage a broad audience between Olympic Games, including a World Treadmill Championships, external. Johnson commented on their discussions, saying, “We have had numerous conversations with World Athletics and we have listened to a lot of what they have said over the years.” He noted their shared objectives: “They want to grow the sport in the US, for athletes to be paid more, to encourage more innovation in the sport.” Johnson concluded, “When we sat down to build Grand Slam Track we listened to that – we built Grand Slam Track to do all those things.”