Grand Slam Track risks ‘dangerous precedent’ over debts

Grand Slam Track, the competition backed by Olympic great Michael Johnson, has been urged to settle debts owed to athletes who took part last year or risk setting a “dangerous precedent”.

Its inaugural season promised lucrative prize money and salaries for contracted runners, but its final event was cancelled with organisers later voluntarily filing for bankruptcy in the USA.

That move left many big names out of pocket, including women’s 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who is owed $268,750 (£196,000).

The Association of Athletics Managers (AAM), which represents a number of stars, says GST now risks undermining trust in the sport having requested $400,000 (£292,000) as part of its court-supervised reorganisation to pay for “athlete recruitment” for a 2026 season.

The AAM is calling for GST to “immediately prioritise” the repayment of all outstanding debts – which it claims total in excess of $30m (£11.8m) to more than 150 athletes and companies – “before attempting to stage additional events”.

The BBC has approached GST for comment.

A legal document filed with a bankruptcy court for the US district of Delaware lists each of the athletes and companies owed money by GST.

Among them are a number of British runners, including:

Johnson previously said there would be no GST events in 2026 unless athletes had received their prize money for its first year.

The AAM said the “integrity and sustainability of track and field depend on honouring commitments and operating with basic financial responsibility”.

It described being “surprised to hear in the most recent creditor meeting that GST is already working toward a 2026 season”.

In all, it claims GST has requested $2.9m (£2.1m) in financing from the court to cover operating costs such as salaries and marketing and office expenses “prior to any other 2025 payments being made”.

The AAM said both it and the athletes it represented had “strongly supported GST and Michael Johnson” and “took it on faith when Michael told us both publicly and privately that he had $30m in funding” for last year’s launch.

Their patience continued even when “serious financial difficulties” became clear after the GST event in Philadelphia, the association added.

However, the AAM now says: “Moving forward with planning for 2026 events without making athletes and other creditors whole for the extensive 2025 debts undermines trust across the entire ecosystem and sets a dangerous precedent for athletes, vendors and future partners alike.