Grand Slam or Strikeout?
by Steve McGill
Well, the Grand Slam series of track meets ended prematurely, with the fourth and final meet, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles the last weekend of June, had been “postponed” to 2026 with no explanation as to why. Yet the new track league did bring many exciting performances in its inaugural season, and served as a good lead-up to the national championships, giving many athletes an opportunity to get in some quality races against quality competition while making some significant amounts of income. But the sudden cancellation of the final meet means a dark cloud hangs over the whole Grand Slam concept and causes doubt that the model can last. We’ve seen this movie before, many track fans and pundits are thinking, as Grand Slam wouldn’t be the first professional track circuit to go under shortly after its inception. So, should we be excited about the future of Grand Slam or should we be rolling our eyes and shaking our heads?
[am4show not_have=’g5;’]
[/am4show][am4guest]
[/am4guest][am4show have=’g5;’]
First, let’s take a look at some of the wins. The two big winners were Melissa Jefferson and “Kung Fu” Kenny Bednarek, who were the respective Racers of the Year on the women’s side and the men’s side. Both of these sprinters ran personal bests in Grand Slam meets — Bednarek in the 100 (9.86) and Jefferson in the 100 (10.73) and 200 (21.99). Jefferson’s performances in particular put her on a level where she knows she can run with the best in both sprint events. Her dominance in the 200 in Philly, where she soundly defeated 2024 Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, puts her on a whole new level compared to where she was before. I’d assume she has to be among the favorites to not only make the World Championship team in the 100 and 200, but to win Nationals in both events.
Another win would be the athlete interaction with the fans. Young fans in particular were able to get the autographs of some of their favorite athletes, to converse with them and take selfies with them. From what I could see, the atmosphere was very fan-friendly, and the athletes seemed to appreciate the love they received. While the USA is known for being less than enthusiastic about track compared to the fans of other countries, such didn’t seem to be the case at these Grand Slam meets.
I would argue that another win would be the fact that athletes competed in events that weren’t necessarily their specialty. Some would argue that it took away from the competitive vibe, but I liked seeing the male hurdlers racing each other in the 100 meter dash, and I loved seeing Sydney McLaughlin racing in the 100 and the 100 hurdles. It serves as a reminder that these are highly gifted athletes who work extremely hard, making them capable of stepping outside their comfort zone and doing impressive things in other events. Also, meets this time of your are still a part of training; no pros are trying to peak before USAs. So yeah, let Sydney work on her start in the 100 and let’s see if it helps her start in the 400 hurdles later in the season.
A final positive worth mentioning is the prize money. I’d say that $100,000 for first place in your event is legit motivation to train hard and go out there and try to win the race. And $50,000 for second place is a solid amount too. Kind of makes track more like golf or tennis, where there’s a pay scale based on how high you finish, and the amount of money is substantial. And because the meets are domestic, there’s no need to spend a huge chunk of the money on travel.
But a down side to the fan interaction is that it allows screwballs who want to verbally abuse athletes free reign to do so. After the Philly meet, there were reports circulating that Gabby Thomas was being followed around the track by an adult male while she was signing autographs. This dude was talking sh*t to her because he had bet on her to lose so he was trying to get in her head. The effects of legalized gambling on professional and collegiate sports is a topic worth taking a deeper dive into perhaps in a future edition of The Hurdle Magazine, but for let’s just say that it’s a big problem. Where was security? Why didn’t someone grab this man and take him away? Why didn’t Grand Slam have people in place to prevent this type of thing? Legalized gambling has freed many loonies from the loony bin, and some will go to any lengths to improve their chances of winning a bet. There have been stories about athletes in several sports being threatened online, having their families threatened online, to the point where they had to shut down their social media accounts. While the abuse is worse for female athletes, it’s happening to make athletes too. What a mess.
The biggest “uh-oh” regarding Grand Slam Track is the abrupt ending to the 2025 series. What happened? What are they not telling us? Why was the Los Angeles meet cancelled? On Grand Slam’s Instagram page, founder Michael Johnson posted a video in which he claims to be transparent, but he doesn’t provide any explanation. He just says we’ll come back stronger than ever in 2026. Maybe they ran out of money to pay the athletes? Maybe a sponsor backed out? Maybe the protests in LA led to concern that holding a big event there might be unsafe? We don’t know, and MJ ain’t saying.
So if I’m an athlete, I’m worried about signing up next year if meets can be cancelled so suddenly. Professional athletes have to plan out their competition schedules well in advance, and if there are other meets available that don’t involve such risk, why sign up for Grand Slam?
For fans, refunds can’t replace seeing your favorite athletes perform live. If you paid to attend the LA meet this year, will you be willing to pay again next year?
Also, because of the cancellation of the last meet, all the old questions Pop back up again? Should field events be included? Should athletes be required to compete in two events each meet? Should the meets continue to take place over 2-3 days?
I’ll say this: if not for the cancellation of the LA meet, I would be feeling very good about Grand Slam and would say keep on doing what you’re doing. But with the cancellation, I don’t know. I don’t think any of us do.
[/am4show]
