Latest news with #SlamTrack
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michael Johnson cancels Grand Slam Track's LA meet amid financial concerns
Michael Johnson will cancel the fourth and final meet of the inaugural Grand Slam Track season in Los Angeles to avoid major financial losses at the event. Athletes and their representatives will be updated in a Zoom call on Thursday amid silence in the build-up to the LA leg scheduled for 28-29 June, after competing 'challenger' athletes were not announced ahead of time as they were before the previous three meets. Advertisement The Independent understands that the economics of the LA event, and Grand Slam Track's deal with its host partner, UCLA, had become financially unviable. New investors are set to be announced next week and sources inside Grand Slam Track suggested that making the best short-term financial decision was key to ensuring the longer-term outlook of the project. The Los Angeles leg will not be replaced with another host city and the season will instead come to a premature end. But organisers remain confident that Grand Slam Track will continue in 2026, with LA likely to be on the circuit, and have privately stressed the positives of what they insist has been a relatively successful 'pilot' year. Before the opening event in Kingston, Jamaica, Johnson's co-founder Steve Gera told The Independent that they were 'maniacally focused on having the youngest fanbase of any sports league in the world in the next five years'. Josh Kerr, Dina Asher-Smith, Fred Kerley and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone signed up to Grand Slam Track (Getty/The Independent) The star-studded list of athletes – which included US stars Kenny Bednarek, Gabrielle Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as well as British names including Josh Kerr and Dina Asher-Smith – competed in two linked events, such as 100m and 200m sprints, with results combined to calculate the winners in each category. Prize money for winners stood at $100,000, with $50,000 for runners-up and $10,000 for eighth place. Advertisement The competition was billed as a much-needed shot in the arm for athletics, although the decision to include only track events and omit field disciplines was met with criticism. 'I am going to save what I think I can save,' Johnson explained. 'I think I can save track, I don't think I can save track and field.' But ticket sales have been slow and sponsorship and broadcast revenues have not met lofty expectations. The Times reports that organisers will save around £2.2m in prize money and travel expenses by cancelling the Los Angeles event. Some of the action has played out in half-empty stadiums, although the third event in Philadelphia was more popular, with close to 30,000 tickets sold over two days after the action was compressed from the three days of events held in Kingston and Miami. A disappointing crowd in Jamaica prompted organisers to review their locations for 2026, with a variety of other markets being considered, including European cities. Advertisement Gera told The Independent in March: 'We had discussions with a couple of different cities across the UK [but] that was a decision that we made to just focus on tightly packaging our run of shows [in the Americas] in year one. But we're really excited to get the product into Europe in the not too distant future.' Grand Slam Track is set to officially confirm its decision on the LA event later on Thursday. Organisers declined to comment.
RTÉ News
13-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Grand Slam Track cancels LA meet to bring abrupt end to debut season
Grand Slam Track cancelled its Los Angeles meet on Thursday as the organisers brought the debut season of the novel athletics circuit to an abrupt end after three events. The Michael Johnson-fronted track series lured in top talent with super-sized prize money but saw poor attendance at its kick-off meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, and later cut its third meet in Philadelphia from three to two days. "The decision to conclude the inaugural Grand Slam Track season is not taken lightly, but one rooted in a belief that we have successfully achieved the objectives we set out to in this pilot season," Johnson said in a statement. "As we've said all along, we were going to have learnings, make adjustments, and continue to improve. Sometimes we have to make moves that aren't comfortable, but what's most important is the future and sustainability of the league. "The global economic landscape has shifted dramatically in the past year, and this business decision has been made to ensure our long-term stability ..." The economics of the deal with Drake Stadium in Los Angeles was the motivating factor in cancelling what was intended to be the final meet of the year, Grand Slam Track sources told Reuters. Organisers have offered full refunds to any fans who had bought tickets to the 28-29 June Los Angeles meeting and Johnson said the series would return in 2026. "Our attention is now on 2026, with our eyes set on continuing to deliver the best-in-class storytelling, content, and competition," the four-times Olympic champion added. "We are committed to calling Los Angeles home, and look forward to hosting a Slam in LA as part of the 2026 season." Grand Slam was announced ahead of the 2024 Paris Games amid mounting concerns over athlete pay, as World Athletics for the first time paid $50,000 (€43,350) to gold medal winners in a controversial move that bucked 128 years of Olympic tradition. With a whopping $12.6 million (€10.9m) in total prize money across what was set to be four meets, Johnson's start-up caught the attention of track's established circuits, as the long-time standard-bearer Diamond League added more to its prize pot. Last month, Irish athlete Andrew Coscoran earned a $50k payday at the Miami Grand Slam Track meet after securing second place overall in the long distance events. Sprinters Kenny Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden were awarded the Grand Slam Track Racers of the Year, the statement added. Jefferson-Wooden, who like Bednarek was undefeated over the three meets, said she had no regrets about taking part. "Change is not always easy or accepted, and I'm happy that Michael Johnson found a way to take a leap of faith and build something for the future of our sport," she said.
Straits Times
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Grand Slam Track cancels final meet of 2025 debut season
FILE PHOTO: May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Alison Dos Santos (BRA), left, Caleb Dean (USA), center, and Trevor Bassitt (USA) run in the 400m hurdles during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images/File Photo REUTERS NEW YORK - Grand Slam Track cancelled its Los Angeles meet on Thursday as the organisers brought the debut season of the novel athletics circuit to an abrupt end after three events. The Michael Johnson-fronted track series lured in top talent with super-sized prize money but saw poor attendance at its kick-off meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, and later cut its third meet in Philadelphia from three to two days. "The decision to conclude the inaugural Grand Slam Track season is not taken lightly, but one rooted in a belief that we have successfully achieved the objectives we set out to in this pilot season," Johnson said in a statement. "As we've said all along, we were going to have learnings, make adjustments, and continue to improve. Sometimes we have to make moves that aren't comfortable, but what's most important is the future and sustainability of the league. "The global economic landscape has shifted dramatically in the past year, and this business decision has been made to ensure our long-term stability ..." The economics of the deal with Drake Stadium in Los Angeles was the motivating factor in cancelling what was intended to be the final meet of the year, Grand Slam Track sources told Reuters. Organisers have offered full refunds to any fans who had bought tickets to the June 28-29 Los Angeles meeting and Johnson said the series would return in 2026. "Our attention is now on 2026, with our eyes set on continuing to deliver the best-in-class storytelling, content, and competition," the four-times Olympic champion added. "We are committed to calling Los Angeles home, and look forward to hosting a Slam in LA as part of the 2026 season." Grand Slam was announced ahead of the 2024 Paris Games amid mounting concerns over athlete pay, as World Athletics for the first time paid $50,000 to gold medal winners in a controversial move that bucked 128 years of Olympic tradition. With a whopping $12.6 million in total prize money across what was set to be four meets, Johnson's start-up caught the attention of track's established circuits, as the long-time standard-bearer Diamond League added more to its prize pot. Sprinters Kenny Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden were awarded the Grand Slam Track Racers of the Year, the statement added. Jefferson-Wooden, who like Bednarek was undefeated over the three meets, said she had no regrets about taking part. "Change is not always easy or accepted, and I'm happy that Michael Johnson found a way to take a leap of faith and build something for the future of our sport," she said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gabby Thomas calls out Grand Slam Track heckler who bragged about winning bets, with league investigating
U.S. sprinter Gabby Thomas has called out a man who heckled her and bragged about his betting results throughout a Grand Slam Track event this weekend. Thomas, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, participated in two sprinting events at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia as part of the Michael Johnson-founded track league's inaugural season. Thomas finished in second in the 200-meter sprint and fourth in the 100-meter. Advertisement After Thomas posted a recap of the weekend on X, the heckler, who uses the username "Mr 100K a day" on X, commented on the post, bragging that his taunts toward Thomas made her lose the race and included screenshots of his successful parlay bets on FanDuel Sportsbook. "I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win," he wrote in the comment, with a video of him harassing Thomas as she lined up for one of the events. Soon after that comment was posted, Thomas quickly pointed out the man's behavior. "This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults," Thomas said in a post on X, in response to the user's comment. "Anybody who enables him online is gross." Advertisement In response to a comment on her post, Thomas commented that she hadn't planned on calling the heckler out but changed her mind "since he's bragging." Grand Slam Track told Front Office Sports that it is investigating the user. "Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video," the league told Front Office Sports in a statement. "We are working to identify the individual involved and will take appropriate action as necessary. We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behavior like this will not be tolerated." The user's screenshots indicated that he had won more than $2,000 in total off two parlays, where he bet on Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to win the 100m. In the video, the man could be heard calling Thomas a "choke job" and referenced the fact that Thomas, who is Black, was engaged to a white man, while Jefferson-Wooden, who is also Black, had married a Black man earlier this year. Advertisement In addition to the comment under Thomas' post, the user posted the same video and screenshots in a separate post hours earlier, thanking Jefferson-Wooden for helping him win his bet. "I want to thank mellissa jefferson (sic) for beating the crap out of gabby thomas at Grand Slam Track and getting me rich!!!!" he wrote. The user tagged Thomas, Jefferson-Wooden and Grand Slam Track in the post. In another post from Sunday, the user posted an interaction between him and Thomas where the sprinter asked "What are you doing here?" and jokingly called him a "heckler." The user captioned the video with a similar message. "Nice to heckle gabby thomas today and make her lose," he said, once again tagging both Thomas and Grand Slam Track. "It was my pleasure." Advertisement Thomas noted in a comment on X that she had a line when it came to the user's behavior. "I think heckling is tolerable… but following me around the stadium is weird in my opinion," she said. The user, in a direct message with USA Today on X, disputed Thomas' claim that he was following her around the stadium. The user also gave the outlet a fake name when asked for his name and where he lived, and said that he lives in Puerto Rico.
USA Today
02-05-2025
- USA Today
Fred Kerley arrested for battery ahead of Grand Slam Track event
Fred Kerley arrested for battery ahead of Grand Slam Track event U.S. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley was arrested for misdemeanor battery Thursday after allegedly striking a woman with a closed fist at a hotel ahead of this weekend's Grand Slam Track event in Miami. Kerley, the reigning Olympic bronze medalist in the men's 100-meter dash, was booked into Broward County jail after allegedly encountering the woman, who told police she is Kerley's ex-girlfriend, at the hotel. According to a police report obtained Friday by USA TODAY Sports, Kerley grew aggressive and stated that he was "going to (expletive) everyone up in here." "(The woman) then advised that Kerley struck her one time in the facial area, causing her nose to bleed," the police report states. USA TODAY Sports does not identify the victims of alleged acts of domestic violence without their permission. Grand Slam Track confirmed in a statement that Kerley, who was scheduled to compete in the 100-meter dash on Saturday and the 200-meter dash on Sunday, would no longer compete at this weekend's event and declined further comment. Richard L. Cooper, an attorney for Kerley, told USA TODAY Sports in an email that he is "confident that the case lacks merit and will be dismissed in short order." "Fred looks forward to going back to what he does best: Winning races and inspiring millions of young athletes," Cooper said. Thursday's arrest came about four months after Kerley was arrested for battery upon a law enforcement officer after a confrontation with police, during which the 29-year-old was wrestled to the ground, struck repeatedly and then subdued with a stun gun. Kerley was then also charged with domestic battery in an unrelated case from 2024. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Kerley is one of the most well-known sprinters in the U.S. after winning Olympic medals in the 100-meter dash at each of the past two editions of the Summer Games. Originally a 400-meter runner, Kerley switched to the 100 ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where he won a surprising silver. He then won the 100-meter world title in 2022, followed by Olympic bronze in the event at the Paris Games last summer. Contact Tom Schad at tschad@ or on social media @
