The Grand Slam Track (GST) saga continues–and this time, league founder Michael Johnson is pointing to a major funding collapse as the source of its multimillion-dollar crisis. On Thursday, Johnson told Front Office Sports (FOS) a key investor pulled out of a tens-of-millions-of-dollars deal just days after the league’s opening Slam in Jamaica in April.
Johnson also admitted the cancellation of GST’s Los Angeles finale–originally blamed on venue and broadcast issues–was also rooted in financial trouble. “We’ve had a very difficult situation this year financially,” he told FOS. “We had an investor that wasn’t able to honor their complete commitment to the league.”
“That was a huge blow to us,” he continued. “[It] caused a major, major cash flow issue for us, put us in a difficult position, put our athletes in a difficult position–but we’re very confident that we’ll pull ourselves out of it.”
GST launched in 2024 with unprecedented prize money, planning to award $12.6 million in its first season; Slam winners were each promised $100,000, with cash awards extending down to eighth place. The league claimed $30 million in investor commitments to cover prize payouts, athlete contracts, appearance fees and venue rentals.
But problems arose quickly. First, late athlete withdrawals, followed by sparse crows in Kingston and Miami and ensuing ticket sale shortages. Only Kingston appearance fees have been paid; prize money for Kingston, along with all payments for the Miami and Philadelphia and contactual fees–about US$13 million–remains outstanding.
Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas, who signed with GST in November as a long sprints Racer, expressed her frustration publicly in early July, commenting GST’s TikTok: “So dope!! Please pay me.” Other vendors remain unpaid as well, including a US$77,896 rental fee for Miami’s Ansin Sports Complex.
Grand Slam Track faces unpaid rental fee from Miami event
According to The Guardian, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he supports these startups, but stressed “the athletes do need paying.” So far, the governing body has not intervened.
