Under-fire Grand Slam Track series denies Michael Johnson earned $2m while athletes went unpaid

The series owes competitors millions of dollars in appearance fees and prize money and had its final meet for this season cancelled

Grand Slam Track has endured a torrid first season (AFP via Getty Images)

Grand Slam Track has denied founder Michael Johnson has taken payments of $2m from the series while its athletes remain unpaid.

The series, which had been billed as a revolutionary addition to the track and field calendar, owes participants millions of dollars in appearance fees and prize money.

Its inaugural season this year stuttered to a halt when then fourth and final meet for 2025, scheduled for Los Angeles, was cancelled.

Grand Slam Track attracted a star-studded list of athletes, including US stars Kenny Bednarek, Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and British names Josh Kerr and Dina Asher-Smith, but suffered slow ticket sales and poor broadcast and sponsorship revenues, while a major investor pulled out after the first meet in Kingston, Jamaica.

Johnson released a statement in August admitting that the financial crisis was so severe that it could not pay its participants what they were owed until new investment was found. Athletes were originally promised $100,000 for winning events, as well as additional fees for being an established “racer” in the series.

Now it is facing the prospect of legal action, and The Guardian reports that the organisation has denied Johnson pocketed $2m (£1.45m) from it, calling any such suggestion “categorically false”.

A spokesperson for Johnson told the paper: “The rumours that Michael Johnson has received $2m or profited in any way from Grand Slam Track are categorically false.

“In fact, Michael has actually put over $2m of his own money into the project. We are working hard in real time to secure additional funds, and Michael has asked for patience while we try to fix this.”

The former American sprinter said in August: “It is incredibly difficult to live with the reality that you've built something bigger than yourself while simultaneously feeling like you've let down the very people you set out to help. However, I have to own that.

“And yes, the cruellest paradox in all of this is we promised that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated. Yet, here we are struggling with our ability to compensate them.”

Olympic 200m champion Thomas has been among the athletes to publicly express their frustration with the situation, posting a comment underneath a TikTok reel of her by the official Grand Slam Track account: “So dope!!! Pls pay me”.

Four-time Olympic champion Johnson has not been part of the BBC’s punditry team for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this month. No official explanation was given for his absence.