 | |
| Sport | Athletics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2024 |
Grand Slam Track was announced in 2024 by American former Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson. The first season is due to run from April - September 2025. After being initially announced in February 2024, the name of the league and other details were announced at a June 2024 press conference in Los Angeles hosted by John Anderson. [1]
Former sprinter Michael Johnson announced in February 2024 his intention to launch a track and field league for 2025, which would include a series of events during the track season between April to September. [2] Johnson is reported to be investing money in the League. [3]
In April 2024, Johnson announced initial plans for the Track and Field League, including a total of $30 million in funding from investors and strategic partners. Winners Alliance is reportedly the lead investor and operating partner. [4] Speaking at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, the President of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, said "I welcome innovation. I also welcome external resource. If you’ve got a rising tide, everyone benefits". [5]
The League was working in 2024 with the companies Doubleday & Cartwright, Two Circles, and SRK Strategies, to respectively concentrate on the graphics, marketing and public relations for the Track and Field League. [1] [6]
In May 2024, former middle distance runner Kyle Merber confirmed he was employed as Director of Athletes and Racing. [7]
The announcement of the League in February 2024 came with the stated aims to increase and boost the sport of track and field in public consciousness and to promote the sport outside the tent-poles of popularity provided by the four-yearly cycle of Olympic Games. [8] One of the aims is for the Track and Field League to resemble other sports leagues, with global athletes. [9] The League is also designed to help athletes gain exposure and sponsorship opportunities. [10]
The league officially launched in June 2024, prior to a planned debut season in 2025. [11] Proposing four "grand slam" events a season, including one in Los Angeles, the track events are split into two-event leagues with each competitor taking part in two disciplines. Among the first athletes to sign-up for the events in June 2024 were Olympic champion hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and British middle-distance world champion Josh Kerr. [12] [13] [14]
In February 2024, Michael Johnson said that the Track and Field League has the goal to provide a TV-friendly product "to promote the sport’s biggest stars and draw new audiences through unique storytelling". [15]
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running. Included in its charge is the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, certification of athletic facilities, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships. The organisation's president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom, who was elected to the four-year position in 2015 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 for a second four-year term, and then again in 2023 for a third and final 4 years.
Michael Duane Johnson is an American retired sprinter who won four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals in the span of his career. He held the world and Olympic records in the 200 m and 400 m, as well as the world record in the indoor 400 m. He also once held the world's best time in the 300 m. Johnson is generally considered one of the greatest and most consistent sprinters in the history of track and field.
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the "quarter-mile"—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
Liu Xiang is a Chinese former 110 meter hurdler. Liu is an Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion. His 2004 Olympic gold medal was the first in a men's track and field event for China.
Angelo F. Taylor is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with Félix Sánchez for the #14 performer of all time. Sánchez also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2004 between Taylor's two golds and 2012, immediately following. Taylor also has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds, ranking him as the #25 performer of all time, superior to any other athlete who has made a serious effort in the 400 metres hurdles. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.
The most popular sport in Russia is soccer. According to Yandex search analysis results rating of the most popular sports among Russians: "Football topped the list of the most popular sports in Russia" with 5 to 10 million requests. Ice hockey came in second with handball, basketball, futsal, boxing, auto racing, volleyball, athletics, tennis, and chess rounding out the top ten rankings. Other popular sports include bandy, biathlon, figure skating, weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, rugby union, and skiing.
The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meeting competitions.
Grant Jackson Fisher is an American professional middle- and long-distance runner. He holds the American national records for the 5,000 (12:46.96) and 10,000 meters (26:33.84), both set in a 2022 breakthrough season outdoors, and the 3,000 meters (7:25.47) after a post-injury return late in the 2023 outdoor season. He placed fifth in the 10,000 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Fisher holds North American records in the 3000 meters, 5000 m and 10,000 m.
Ryan Crouser is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus. He specializes in the shot put, in which he is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a three-time World Champion. He holds the world record in the shot put, both indoors and outdoors. He set the outdoor world record at 23.56 meters in May 2023, improving upon his previous record of 23.37 m from July 2021. He has held the indoor record of 22.82 m since January 2021.
Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record, and 2022 World champion with a world record time of 50.68 seconds. Setting four world records during 13 months, she was the first woman to break the 52-second and 51-second barriers in the 400 m hurdles. She won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. At all three competitions, she also took gold as part of a women's 4 × 400 m relay team.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner. Ingebrigtsen is the current world record holder for the indoor 1500 metres and the 2000 metres, and holds the world best time over the two mile distance. Ingebrigtsen is a two-time World champion, winning gold medals in the 5000 metres in 2022 and 2023 and a four-time European champion, winning gold medals in the 1500 m and 5000 m in 2018 and 2022. He also won a gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record. In addition to the 1500 m, Ingebrigtsen holds European records in the mile and 5000 m, and is one of only three men to run a sub-3:30 1500 m, sub-7:30 3000 m and a sub-12:50 5000 m.
Josh Kerr is a Scottish middle-distance runner who competes primarily in the 1500 metres. A double World Champion, he won a gold medal in the event at the 2023 World Championships, a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships. Indoors he is the 2024 World Indoor champion in the 3000 metres. He holds the world record time in the indoor 2 mile and the European record in the indoor mile, along with the British record in the outdoor mile.
Athing Mu is an American middle-distance runner. She is the youngest woman in history to hold Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking a national record set by Ajeé Wilson in 2017, and a continental under-20 record. She took a second gold as part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay. She was the 800 m 2022 World champion, becoming the first American woman to win the world championship title over the distance.
Sha'Carri Richardson is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters races. Richardson rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, running 10.75 seconds to break the 100 m collegiate record at the NCAA Division I Championships. This winning time made her one of the ten fastest women in history at 19 years old.
Jasmine Moore is an American athlete. In 2022, she became the first American woman to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in both the long jump and the triple jump.
Bryce Deadmon is an American track and field athlete. In July 2023, he became US national champion in the 400 meters.
Cole Hocker is an American middle- and long-distance runner. He holds multiple national titles in annual competitions organized by USA Track & Field, including four titles in the 1500 meters and one title in the 3000 meters. In March 2024, he won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Hocker also placed sixth in the 1500 m at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo and seventh at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Yared Nuguse is an American professional middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 meters. He was the 2019 NCAA Division I champion in the event. Nuguse is the North American outdoor record holder over 1500 meters and one mile, and the North American indoor record holder for the 1500 meters, one mile and 3000 meters. Since June 2022, Nuguse has competed for the On Athletics Club under coach Dathan Ritzenhein.
Kyree King is an American sprinter.
Alaysha Johnson is an American athlete who competes in the 100 metres hurdles.