Some of the world’s best track athletes compete in a new professional league that makes its debut this week.
Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about Grand Slam Track before its first stop in Kingston, Jamaica, on Friday.
Why was this league created?
Grand Slam Track is the brainchild of American sprinting great, Michael Johnson. The four-time Olympic champion and eight-time world champion believes that track has had a problem getting its biggest stars to compete against one another outside of the Olympic Games and world championships.
Johnson, who is also commissioner of the new league, told The Wall Street Journal in 2024 that the objective “is to provide that sort of head-to-head competition, that drama, the stakes, and tell those stories around all of that compelling drama as well – four times a year.”
Johnson went into more detail about the ‘why’ of Grand Slam Track in an interview with CBC Sports contributor Morgan Campbell:
WATCH | Johnson discusses his new pro track league:
The four-time Olympic champion sits down with host Morgan Campbell just days away from the debut of the Grand Slam Track event in Kingston, Jamaica.
How is it different than the Diamond League?
There are several differences, but the main contrasts are:
- The number of events: Four Grand Slams versus 15 Diamond League stops
- Grand Slam Track emphasizes head-to-head matchups between the same athletes, where Diamond League fields look vastly different from stop to stop
- Prize money: Grand Slam participants are paid a base fee and compete for a much larger prize pool (more on that below)
- Runners compete in two different races at each Grand Slam event
How does it work?
As the name might imply, the Grand Slam Track season is contested over four meets in four different cities. A total of 96 athletes will compete – 48 men and 48 women.
With the abovementioned emphasis on ‘head-to-head matchups,’ half of those runners (24 men and 24 women) have committed to run at every stop on the Grand Slam circuit. Those particular athletes are called ‘racers.’
The other half of the field, called ‘challengers,’ will be selected on a per-Slam basis. The criteria for the selection of challengers considers recent performances and athletes who would create intriguing matchups.
All athletes will compete in one of six event groups:
- Short sprints (100m, 200m)
- Long sprints (200m, 400m)
- Short hurdles (100m hurdles [women] / 110m hurdles [men], 100m flat [both])
- Long hurdles (400m hurdles, 400m flat)
- Short distance (800m, 1,500m)
- Long distance (3,000m, 5,000m)
Each group will have its eight athletes run the two different events at each Grand Slam meet. Runners will collect points for their results in each event, which are based on a sliding scale:
- 1st: 12 points
- 2nd: 8 points
- 3rd: 6 points
- 4th: 5 points
- 5th: 4 points
- 6th: 3 points
- 7th: 2 points
- 8th: 1 point
The runner with the most cumulative points from their two races at a Grand Slam is declared the winner of their event group and declared a Slam champion.
By the end of the season, the two competitors who earn the most points across all Slams – one from the men’s groups and one from the women’s groups – will be crowned ‘Racer of the Year.’
Why are there no field events?
Johnson has said that his league believes that athletes should have the undivided attention of those watching them compete. That means one event at a time, and that fitting in field events over the two-and-a-half hours of broadcast time was not an option.
Who will compete?
Grand Slam Track boasts some big names who have signed on to be racers, including reigning Olympic champions like Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (women’s 400m hurdles), Gabby Thomas (women’s 200m), and Cole Hocker (men’s 1,500m).
Men’s 100m sprinters Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek are also committed to the four Grand Slam events.
Marco Arop is the lone Canadian racer in Grand Slam Track, but it’s possible that more Canadians could be selected to compete as challengers, as Charles Philibert-Thiboutot is for the Kingston competition.
Here’s a full list of the runners that will compete at every Grand Slam event:
Men’s racer roster
Short sprints
- Kenny Bednarek, United States
- Zharnel Hughes, Great Britain
- Fred Kerley, United States
- Oblique Seville, Jamaica
Long sprints
- Quincy Hall, United States
- Matthew Hudson-Smith, Great Britain
- Jereem Richards, Trinidad and Tobago
- Muzala Samukonga, Zambia
Short hurdles
- Devon Allen, United States
- Freddie Crittenden, United States
- Daniel Roberts, United States
- Sasha Zhoya, France
Long hurdles
- Roshawn Clarke, Jamaica
- Caleb Dean, United States
- Alison dos Santos, Brazil
- Clément Ducos, France
Short distance
- Marco Arop, Canada
- Josh Kerr, Great Britain
- Cole Hocker, United States
- Yared Nuguse, United States
Long distance
- Grant Fisher, United States
- Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopia
- Luis Grijalva, Guatemala
- Ronald Kwemoi, Kenya
Women’s racer roster
Short sprints
- Brittany Brown, United States
- Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, United States
- Daryll Neita, Great Britain
- Gabby Thomas, United States
Long sprints
- Salwa Eid Nasser, Bahrain
- Alexis Holmes, United States
- Marileidy Paulinho, Dominican Republic
- Nickisha Pryce, Jamaica
Short hurdles
- Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Puerto Rico
- Ackera Nugent, Jamaica
- Masai Russell, United States
- Cyréna Samba-Mayela, France
Long hurdles
- Rushell Clayton, Jamaica
- Jasmine Jones, United States
- Shamier Little, United States
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, United States
Short distance
- Nikki Hiltz, United States
- Jess Hull, Australia
- Mary Moraa, Kenya
- Diribe Welteji, Ethiopia
Long distance
- Elise Cranny, United States
- Tsige Gebreselama, Ethiopia
- Agnes Negtich, Kenya
- Nozomi Tanaka, Japan
What’s on the line?
Racers competing in Grand Slam Track events receive an annual base compensation to compete in all four Slams, while challengers earn a per-Slam fee.
Both groups will also compete for a share of the $12.6M US total prize pool.
The full payout for each of the event groups, per Slam, is as follows:
- 1st: $100,000
- 2nd: $50,000
- 3rd: $30,000
- 4th: $25,000
- 5th: $20,000
- 6th: $15,000
- 7th: $12,500
- 8th: $10,000
If one racer was to win each of their Grand Slam events, they would walk away with $400,000 in prize money.
WATCH | Track’s new pro league, the Grand Slam of Track, explained:
Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson is the man behind the new professional track league.
Where and when are the events happening?
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Kingston, Jamaica (April 4-6)
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Miami (May 2-4)
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Philadelphia (May 30 – June 1)
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Los Angeles (June 27-29)
How can fans watch the events?
All Grand Slam Track events will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca and on CBC Gem. For a full broadcast schedule of athletics events this season, click here.
