‘No 2026 Grand Slam Track till athletes paid'
Published on: Sun, Aug 17, 2025
By: AFP Text Size: The troubled event are struggling to compensate athletes from the three meetings that took place in 2025 in Kingston, Jamaica, Miami and Philadelphia. PARIS: The financially troubled Grand Slam Track circuit will not take place in 2026 until athletes awaiting prize money for this year are paid, its founder Michael Johnson said on Friday. Johnson admitted in a statement 'we are struggling with our ability to compensate' athletes from the three meetings that took place in 2025 in Kingston, Jamaica, Miami and Philadelphia. The four-time Olympic sprint gold medallist said he had taken the decision to cancel the fourth and final meeting in Los Angeles 'to avoid further losses and start the lengthy process of stabilising the company to get back on track. 'But unfortunately, we saw circumstances change in ways beyond our control,' he said. He added: 'The 2026 season will not happen until those obligations are met—and that is my #1 priority.' Johnson said he had held talks with new investors and he remained 'confident' about the future of Grand Slam. 'We're not done yet. Not even close,' he said. Johnson launched Grand Slam as an alternative to the Diamond League series of international meetings with an important difference—it would only feature track events and no field events. He promised a more concentrated format with more head-to-head races between the world's best athletes. However, while the series was able to recruit stars such as US Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder and double Olympic gold medallist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, it failed to recruit a host of top sprinting talent including the reigning men's and women's 100m champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred. The series offered athletes prize money of up to $100,000 for their overall standings after participating in two races at each meet. Athletes were pictured holding up giant cheques showing how much money they had won. However, while the competitors expressed enthusiasm for the series, there were clear signs it had failed to capture the imagination of fans. There were Swathes of empty seats at the opening meeting in Kingston, while for the third meeting in Philadelphia, the programme was cut from three days to two. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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