These will be the four locations for Michael Johnson’s brand new professional track league in 2025
Grand Slam Track has confirmed the four cities that will host its Slam events next season, each in the Americas.
Three of the sites will be in the US: Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, while the inaugural three-day meeting will take place in Kingston, Jamaica.
The capital of Jamaica will host the world’s best athletes on April 4-6 National Stadium in Independence Park.
The match in Kingston also comes a few weeks before next season’s first Diamond League, which takes place in Xiamen on April 26.
Jamaica’s National Stadium has a track record of hosting incredible events, from the Racers Grand Prix and Jamaican National Championships to the ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships (better known as the ‘Champs’).
Champs in Kingston, Jamaica (Euan Crumley)
The Grand Slam circuit will then travel to Miramar/Miami for the three-day event May 2-4.
Annecy Sports Complex in Miramar has more than 5,000 seats, and Grand Slam Track organizers are expected to add temporary seating to the venue.
The event at Miramar also takes place on the same weekend as the Miami Grand Prix, and the athletics complex is just seven miles from the Miami International Circuit, home of F1.
After that, the Grand Slam Track moves to Philadelphia, where the 52,000-capacity Franklin Field will host the athletes from May 30 to June 1.
That period is between Rabat and the Diamond League of Rome, which take place on May 25 and June 6 respectively.
Franklin Field is synonymous with the Penn Relays, the oldest and largest track and field event in the United States, held annually since 1895.
Team Jamaica at the 2010 Penn Relays (Getty)
Los Angeles is the fourth host city for the Grand Slam Track, and the action will take place June 27-29 at the 11,700-seat Drake Stadium.
That means the Grand Slam circuit will meet with the New York Grand Prix, which meets as part of the World Athletics continental tour, on June 29.
Great Britain Athletics, however, will not be following Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam race next season.
Jack Buckner, the governing body’s chief executive, has had really good discussions with Johnson about the Grand Slam track, but for now they just want to see how it goes.
“We know certain things about it, and it seems pretty US-centric right now,” Buckner said they also need to be viable. If you don’t treat events correctly, you can lose quite a lot of money pretty quickly, which has happened historically.
“So we’re going to look at it and see the bottom line. Get the diamond league right. We just think there’s a lot of potential in it to be very profitable.”
Michael Johnson (Grand Slam)
A total of 32 athletes registered for the Grand Slam track: Akera Nugent, Roshon Clark, Sydney McLaughlin-Levron, Melissa Jefferson, Masai Russell, Quincy Hall, Fred Curley, Kenny Bednarek, Cole Hawker, Jared Nuguz, Grant Fisher, Josh Kerr, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Nikki Hiltz, Sirena Samba-Wisdom, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Alison Dos Santos, Ronald Kwemoi, Muzala Samukonga, Clement Dukos, Marilidy Paulino, Jess Hull, Danielle Roberts, Shamier A Lee Dan Allen, Jasmine Jones, Jeremy Richards, Luis Grijalva, Rushelle Clayton, Agnes Ngetich and Tsigi Gebreselama.
All of these athletes will be Racers, meaning they compete in all four Slams and receive an annual base compensation for competing in each, as well as being eligible for full prize money.
Each season in Grand Slam Track, there will be 48 racers. They will be assigned to compete in one of the following categories and will compete in two events during each Slam: Short Sprint (100m/200m), Short Hurdles (100m Hurdles or 110m Hurdles/100m), Long Sprint (200m/ 400m), long hurdles (400m hurdle/400m), short distance (800m/1500m) or long distance (3000m/5000m).
Complete schedule of the 2025 Grand Slam season.
Kingston – April 4-6
Miami – May 2-4
Philadelphia – May 30-June 1
Los Angeles – June 27-29
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