Editor’s note: I have tried to hold my tongue on the Grand Slam Track fiasco. I have been appreciative of Josh Kerr’s concern for the athletes on the fringes, who needed that $10k in 8th place to pay rent, get food, or pay bills.
Stuart Weir, RunBlogRun senior writer for UK/Europe, wrote this piece, with thoughts from Danielle Williams, and comments by Matthew Hudson-Smith.
Matt Hudson-Smith comments on Grand Slam Track.
In 2024, American former Olympic champion sprinter, Michael Johnson, announced an exciting and revolutionary new event, Grand Slam Track – actually a series of four events in Jamaica and the USA. Male and female athletes would compete in 6 categories, each with two events, for a first prize of $100,000 per event. By the end of 2025, the organizers had filed for bankruptcy, with the athletes unpaid.
After the first event, I spoke to double world-champion sprint hurdler, Danielle Williams, who told me: “It was pretty good. It was actually pretty fun. Pretty exciting. Something new, something that I haven’t done before. I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, but I think it was a very exciting, very interesting concept. And they really took care of us athletes. They really made sure that everything was well thought out and planned for us, and I appreciated that.
“It had the feel of kind of in between a Diamond League and a championship. It was like a championship, but it’s not quite a championship. It’s more like a fun league right now. I saw it as ‘just go out and have some fun’. Running two different events – a flat 100 meters and 100 hurdles – in one weekend made it different. So it’s kind of like a fun league right now, maybe as it grows, it will potentially develop into something more. They also allowed each person to have their own content team, who took photos and all that on the track. On the warm-up track, you had content people present, capturing content, so that was very different from a Diamond League setting”.
Williams won the women’s Short Hurdles category (100m and 100m hurdles combined). When she did not get paid, she was a bit less positive about the experience.
Earlier this month, talking to GB track and field writers, Matt Hudson-Smith shared his thoughts on being part of the event: “I think it is hard to explain what I feel really because at the end of the day, track as a whole needed a reinvention. So you want to give the organizers grace because they are trying to move the sport on. But at the same time, it’s like, ‘come on, you can do better than this’. Then you hear or read little things, and you do get a little bit frustrated as well. And then the added sense of now it’s not just myself; with children in the mix, you want to give a little bit of grace, but at the same time, you are like ‘sort it out!’.
“For me, it was just a little bit more frustration because you really do want it to do well. I think it helps the sport; it helps the athletes; it was a good competition. I’ll be a million percent honest with you, it was fun, and they did treat you well, but at the same time, they didn’t keep their end of the bargain, which is paying the athletes. And especially in a sport where very few athletes get a big payday. It’s usually just the World or the Olympics. In an off year [with no major championship], you make your money by racing all the time. So I think it’s a little bit of disappointment, and I think I can say I’m very lucky in the sense that I had a couple of good years and I don’t spend recklessly, but at the same time, there are a lot of athletes who banked on the Grand Slam paying them”.
He also expressed frustration with the Grand Slam starting early in the year; athletes had to be ready to run fast times in April, which, especially in a World Championship year, most would prefer not to do. They did it on the promise of a big payday and were then let down. As Hudson-Smith put it graphically: “You put your eggs in one basket, and you hope that Grand Slam would keep their end of the bargain”.
At the end of the day, it’s out of my control, but I just hope they learn from their mistakes. But regarding the Grand Slam and the payment, it was just a shame because it was a good concept, but things happen. Hopefully, athletes do get their money. I heard that there was something that came out that they’re going to pay, like is it 80% or something like that, and I just hope there’s more initiatives and the sport develops further”.
A very balanced assessment of the Grand Slam concept and the frustration about how athletes were failed.
