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Grand Slam Track has yet to pay its athletes. The total sum of money hovers north of $12 million as Michael Johnson scrambles to find additional funding for his floundering track and field series.
World Athletics is now involved.
Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field, started the Grand Slam series as an alternative to the other circuits, like the Diamond League. His goal was to elevate the sport through a more concentrated format that promised more head-to-head races between the world’s best athletes. The prize pool was also much greater. Athletes were supposedly competing for $12.6 million.
That money is nowhere to be found.
According to The Times, “athletes and their agents are still chasing money owed to them from the first meet in Kingston, Jamaica, at the start of April.” Some of them went directly to the sport’s governing body to express their concerns. Appearance fee contracts worth as much as $200,000 for the leading stars and prize money of up to $100,000 for each round of competition have yet to be paid out.
Mind you, there is some normality to this process. Prize money is not distributed to the athletes until drug tests results have been processed. That is true for every competition. However, Diamond League drug test results are typically processed in under a month, closer to two weeks. What is the hold up?
Multiple Grand Slam Track athletes (and their representatives) have yet to be paid for their participation at three meets in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia. The remaining stops were canceled due to low interest and a lack of funding. Money is clearly an issue.
Michael Johnson reportedly failed to provide any additional clarity on the outstanding payments. He said Grand Slam is still hoping to find new sponsors for a return in 2026.
Grand Slam Track sent out the following email on Tuesday:
We’d like to provide the following update regarding payments for the athletes who competed in Grand Slam Track events this year. Our plan is to make payments for Kingston prize money before the end of July and the remaining payments due by the end of September, which includes the honoring of Los Angeles appearance fees.
— Grand Slam Track executive Kyle Merbe
The athletes and their agents are not satisfied. If the money is there, why not pay it now? Great question. As an outsider looking in, I don’t know if the money is there. This entire venture has been a disaster.