Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Kenny Bednarek, Alison dos Santos unbeaten in Grand Slam Track
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Kenny Bednarek and Alison dos Santos are the only runners to win their first four races through the first two Grand Slam Track meets.
McLaughlin-Levrone completed her second consecutive 400m-400m hurdles group sweep on Sunday, taking the flat 400m in 49.69 seconds at Grand Slam Track Miami.
On Saturday, she won the 400m hurdles in 52.07, the fastest time ever run before the month of June.
McLaughlin-Levrone has won 12 consecutive 400m hurdles finals dating to her last defeat at the 2019 World Championships, breaking the world record six times in that span to bring it down from 52.16 to 50.37.
GRAND SLAM TRACK: Full Results
McLaughlin-Levrone said after the first Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica last month that she was looking at switching events for the next Grand Slam in Philadelphia (May 30-June 1, live on Peacock), running the 100m and 100m hurdles instead of the 400m and 400m hurdles.
McLaughlin-Levrone last raced the 100m in 2018 at age 18 — 11.07 seconds with heavy tailwind of 3.5 meters per second. The world's fastest woman can run under 11 seconds with no tailwind.
McLaughlin-Levrone has run the 100m hurdles a little more frequently with a best time of 12.65. The world's top women can break 12.50.
McLaughlin-Levrone could face some of them in Philadelphia, including Paris Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell, who on Friday ran the second-fastest time in history — 12.17 seconds.
Also Sunday, Kenny Bednarek, the two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist, stayed undefeated in the 100m-200m sprints group with a 200m victory in 19.84, the world's best time this year.
'I'm going to be dominant this year,' Bednarek said on the broadcast.
Brazil's Alison dos Santos won the 400m in 44.53, a personal best by one hundredth, to sweep the men's 400m-400m hurdles group, just as he did in Kingston last month.
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PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES JUNE 1: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the United States is seen after ... More finishing the Women's 100 Meters, part of the Women's Short Hurdles group, on Day Two of the Grand Slam Track Series at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on June 1, 2025. (Photo by STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The Good: A Highly-Professionalized League For Track And Field Athletes We'll give Grand Slam Track credit for being laser-focused on its premise. While it invited critics when it announced it would be devoid of field events, the league showcased extremely competitive fields across various racing disciplines over three meets, from the sprints to the hurdles, middle distance, and distance events. The league ultimately got the results it desired, from an American record in the 100 meter hurdles by Olympic champion Masai Russell, to world leads in various other distances. 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That decision ultimately led to the elimination of the 5,000 meters, with Johnson eliminating the race after showings, he said, which did not fit the league's standards. 'We felt the two-race concept wasn't working as well,' Johnson told reporters after the Philadelphia meet. The decision also cut just over $250,000 in prize money from the distance category. When pressed on the decision, Johnson added: 'I mean, you just have to watch them.' While attendance was much higher in Philadelphia, featuring fans that were spread across the grandstands, the stadium was not sold-out and likely topped out at around 25,000 for two days, according to a source. The league was not without controversy, either. In Miami, a scuffle at the team hotel led to an arrest and the suspension of athlete Frank Kerley, a featured racer. The next month, a fan heckled Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas in Philadelphia, leading to that fan's banning of a betting site. 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Overall, the viewing options offered consistent access to the league and offered greater production value, from high-level commentary to built-in stories featuring the league's top stars. Few would doubt the extent to which Grand Slam Track invested into its social media department, either. The league has offered robust media content before and after meets and continues to post on social media through June. Growing its Instagram audience to 139,000 followers, X to 16,500 and YouTube to 25,200, Grand Slam Track is slowly but surely monetizing its efforts, creating supplementary revenue streams. The Bad: Middling Fan Interest At The Gate The league's biggest pain point was at the gate, where operations did not go to plan. On its debut day in Jamaica on April 4, the competition played out before a stadium roughly one-third full. 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