Editor’s Note: I’ve tried to keep my mouth shut on the Grand Slam track fiasco. I have been grateful Josh Carey a concern for suburban athletes who needed that $10K in 8th place to pay rent, get food, or pay bills.
Stuart Weir, RunBlogRun Senior Writer For UK/Europe, wrote this piece with thoughts Daniel Williams, and comments Matthew Hudson-Smith.
Matt Hudson-Smith comments on the Grand Slam Track.
2024 American former Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson, announced an exciting and revolutionary new event, Path to Grand Slam – actually a series of four events in Jamaica and the US. Male and female athletes will compete in 6 categories, each consisting of two events, for a first prize of $100,000 per event. At the end of 2025, the organizers filed for bankruptcy and the athletes were not paid.
After the first event, I spoke to two-time world champion hurdler, Daniel Williams, who told me “That was pretty good. It was actually pretty fun. Pretty exciting. Something new, something I haven’t done before. I didn’t really know what to expect from it, but I think it was a very exciting, very interesting concept. And they really cared about our athletes. They really made sure everything was well thought out and planned for us and I appreciated that.
“It kind of felt like a cross between the Diamond League and the Championship. It was like acchampionship, but it’s not quite a championship. It’s more like a fun league at this point. I saw it as “just go out and have some fun”. Holding two different events – flat 100 meters and 100 hurdles – in one weekend it made a difference. So it looks like a fun league right now, maybe when it gets bigger it could potentially turn into something more. They also allowed each person to have their own content team taking photos and all that on the track. On the warm-up track, you had people with content attracting content, so it was very different from the Diamond League.”
Williams won the women’s short hurdles (100m and 100m combined). When he wasn’t getting paid, he was a little less positive about the experience.
Speaking to GB Track and Field writers earlier this month, Matt Hudson-Smith “I think it’s hard to explain how I really feel because at the end of the day, shared his thoughts, the track as a whole needed rethinking. So you want to give credit to the organizers as they try to promote the sport. But at the same time it’s like, “come on, you can do better than this.” Then you hear or read little things and you get a little frustrated too. And then the added feeling now that it’s not just me; With kids in the mix, you want to give a little grace, but at the same time, you’re like, ‘sort it out.’
“For me, it was a little bit more disappointing because you really want it to do well. I think it helps the sport, it helps the athletes, it was good competition. I’ll be a million percent honest with you, it was fun and they treated you well, but at the same time they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. During the Worlds or the Olympics (without the big championships), you earn money by competing all the time, so I think it’s a bit of a disappointment, and I think I can say that I’ve been very lucky in the sense that I’ve had some good years and I’m not spending recklessly, but at the same time there are a lot of athletes.
He also expressed Disappointment with the Grand Slam starting at the beginning of the year. Athletes had to be ready to run fast in April, which, especially in a world championship year, many would prefer not to do. They did it on promise of great reward and then got depressed. As Hudson-Smith put it vividly. “You put your eggs in one basket and hope the Grand Slams hold up their end of the bargain.”
Ultimately it’s out of my control, but I just hope they learn from their mistakes. But what about? Grand Slam and the payment, that was just a shame because it was a good concept, but things happen. Let’s hope the athletes get their money. I heard something came out that they were going to pay like 80% or something like that and I just hope there will be more initiatives and the sport will grow more.”
A very balanced assessment of the Grand Slam concept and frustration with how athletes have failed.
