Grand Slam Track will look to ‘elevate the sport’ during a non-Olympic year
LA TimesFour-time Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, shown after winning the 400-meter hurdles at the Paris Summer Games, is one of the stars committed to competing in Grand Slam Track, a series of competitions scheduled for next year. “Now just seems like the right time to do it.” Johnson believes Grand Slam Track, a series of four three-day meets in which 48 of the fastest men and women in the world race for $12.6 million in prize money, seems like the right way to do it. “That is absolutely built into our league and built into our relationship with our athletes.” It’s also why Grand Slam Track has no field events, a decision that robs the circuit of some of the sport’s most interesting athletes, among them shot putter Ryan Crouser and pole vaulter Armand Duplantis. “Michael’s vision is clear,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, a world record-holder and the first athlete to sign on to Johnson’s program. “But,” he added, “if you don’t get an event right and you don’t budget for it properly, it can lose a lot of money quickly.” If Johnson’s hunch is right, Grand Slam Track might prove to be the way athletes and promoters begin bringing that money — and the fans — back.