Michael Johnson Addresses Athletes Amid Grand Slam Track League Financial Crisis

Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson has finally addressed the financial crisis facing his track league after debuting in Kingston, Jamaica, in April.

Top athletes, including the 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, world 800m champion Mary Moraa, two-time Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek and world 1500m champion Josh Kerr, had signed up for the event.

Michael Johnson had promised a bumper prize money for the top eight athletes to cross the finish line, with $12.6m (£10m) being set aside.

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The winners of each slam were set to walk away with $100,000, with those who finish second and third pocketing $50,000 and $30,000.

Those who finish fourth, fifth and sixth in each slam would win $25,000, $20,000 and $15,000. The seventh and eighth-place finishers would earn $12,500 and $10,000.

However, Michael Johnson failed to honour the payments, and he reportedly owes the athletes their prize money after three slams. The second and third slams were held in Miami and Philadelphia, with the fourth slam in Los Angeles being cancelled.

Michael Johnson, the four-time Olympic champion, had been silent about the issue but was forced to speak about it following the growing concern from various stakeholders and athletes.

World Athletics president Seb Coe was one of the major stakeholders who called out Michael Johnson, noting that such things should not be normalised.

Speaking on the Front Office Sports Today show, Michael Johnson pointed out that a major investor failed to honour their promise, something that led to the financial crisis.

Michael Johnson pointed out that they decided to go ahead and start the track league with the finances raised, but sadly, it was not enough to cater for all the athletes, among other things.

“We want to be very clear, we have had a very difficult situation at the start of this year, financially. We had an investor who was unable to honour their complete commitment to the league,” Michael Johnson said.

“So we started off with the capital that we needed to start with this season, the four slams and make sure that we could take care of everyone. We always knew that this first year in our inaugural season, we would have some difficulties.

“That was a huge blow to us, a major cash flow issue for us that put us and our athletes in a difficult position, and we are very confident that we will pull ourselves out of here.”

Michael Johnson has acknowledged the financial difficulties plaguing the Grand Slam Track League and attributed them to a failed investor commitment.

The credibility of the league now hinges on his ability to restore trust, secure funding, and honour promises made to athletes, many of whom remain unpaid despite their participation.