- Title: Grand Slam Track will revolutionize athletics, promises Olympic great Johnson
- Date: 31st March 2025
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, UNITED STATES (MARCH 28, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GRAND SLAM TRACK BOARD MEMBER AND FOUR-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST AND EIGHT-TIME WORLD CHAMPION, MICHAEL JOHNSON, SAYING: "I'm going to try to bridge this gap between the sport and its current position and what its potential is, which I think is immense. I think this coul
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- Keywords: GST Grand Slam Track
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- Country: US
- Topics: Athletics,North America,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA004259628032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former Olympic champion Michael Johnson says his new Grand Slam Track series can shine a greater spotlight on athletics and propel its biggest names to superstardom.
The first meeting will take place in Kingston, Jamaica over the weekend, and will give athletes the chance to compete in one of six different categories - short sprints, short hurdles, long sprints, long hurdles, short distance and long distance.
Track and field has long struggled to provide a meaningful platform for its athletes outside of Olympics and World Championships, with the Diamond League criticised for failing to provide the head-to-head rivalries needed to capture television audiences.
But Johnson insists his concept will change that.
"The athletes want to compete against their rivals, despite what people might believe," the 57-year-old told Reuters from his home in Los Angeles.
"They love that high-level competition. They want more of it. They want to compete on a grand stage.
"I'm going to try to bridge this gap between the sport and its current position and what its potential is, which I think is immense. I think this could be the UFC and Formula One of athlete racing."
Each category features two races (for example 100m and 200m for the short sprints) and will see 'house' racers who are present for each of the four slams take on challengers who will vary from meet to meet.
The winners of each category will pocket $100,000 per slam, while those finishing last will take home $10,000.
Among those who have signed up are 100m world champion Fred Kerley and double Olympic 400m hurdle champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
However Grand Slam Track has some notable absentees, including Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles and his female counterpart Julien Alfred.
"I'm happy with the people we have," Johnson said. "(I am) very grateful for those 48 who, you know, decided, ‘ Yeah, we're going to jump on early. We're not going to just sit back and wait. This is what the sport needs and it's what we want."
After the opening event in Jamaica, Grand Slam Track has a three-leg swing through America, taking in Miami, and Philadelphia before ending in Los Angeles on the last weekend of June.
Johnson, who won 200m and 400m gold at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and held world records in both events, says taking Grand Slam Track to Europe and Asia is on the agenda should this year's competition prove a success.
“The athletes themselves have been criticized a lot over the years for the sport not being more popular," he added.
"And my position has always been, the athletes are doing their job. They're doing what they're supposed to do. They're delivering. The sport is always delivering in terms of compelling competition. It's up to someone else to go and create a structure that presents that to the world and commercializes that and markets it."
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