What is Grand Slam Track? | Radio Times

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With a hefty $12.6 million prize fund on offer and some fantasy match-ups set to become reality, Grand Slam Track should certainly make for plenty of entertainment.

RadioTimes.com brings you all the details you need to know about Grand Slam Track.

What is Grand Slam Track?

The brainchild of four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson, Grand Slam Track is a professional athletics league that is hoping to transform how the sport operates by putting athletes and rivalries at the front and centre.

Johnson believes it can be the "F1 of athlete racing" – providing a platform for competitors to race more regularly and reaching wider audiences than any track event outside the Olympics in an effort to boost the popularity of the sport.

There are six event categories, with athletes racing across the same two disciplines at every slam:

Short sprints (100m and 200m)
Short hurdles (100m and 100/110m hurdles)
Short distance (800m and 1500m)
Long sprints (200m and 400m)
Long hurdles (400m hurdles and 400m)
Long distance (3000m and 5000m)

A total of 48 racers, four men and four women in each category, are committed to run in all four slams.

At each event, they'll be joined by 48 challengers, four men and four women in each category, who are emerging athletes trying to earn a place as a racer for the 2026 Grand Slam Track season.

The challengers will change at each event according to recent performances and potential match-ups.

Competitors earn points based on where they finish in each event (12, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) and the athlete in each category with the highest total across the two disciplines will be crowned 'Slam Champion' – with highest individual place and lowest combined time as the two tiebreakers.

At the end of the season, the two athletes – one from the men's race groups and one from the women's race groups – with the most cumulative points will be named the 'Racer of the Year'.

All the athletes are paid participation fees at each slam and will also earn a share of the prize fund based on their performances.

When is Grand Slam Track?

The 2025 Grand Slam Track season consists of four meets between April and June.

The opener at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, starts on Friday 4th April and runs until Sunday 6th April.

Next up is the meet at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miami, US, which begins on Friday 2nd May and runs until Sunday 4th May.

Franklin Field in Philadelphia, US, plays host to the third slam from Friday 30th May to Sunday 1st June.

The season will conclude at Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, US, between Friday 27th June and Sunday 29th June.

Who is competing at Grand Slam Track?

The racers (confirmed for all four slams)

There are some big names missing – such as the likes of Sha'Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen – but Johnson and co have compiled a hugely impressive roster that includes some of the fastest athletes on the planet, no shortage of Olympic champions, and a number of British stars.

Men's short sprints

Kenny Bednarek (USA)
Fred Kerley (USA)
Oblique Seville (JAM)
Zharnel Hughes (GBR)

Men's short hurdles

Devon Allen (USA)*
Daniel Roberts (USA)
Sasha Zhoya (FRA)
Freddie Crittenden (USA)

Men's long sprints

Muzala Samukonga (ZAM)
Quincy Hall (USA)*
Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR)
Jereem Richards (TRI)

Men's long hurdles

Alison Dos Santos (BRA)
Clément Ducos (FRA)
Roshawn Clarke (JAM)
Caleb Dean (USA)

Men's short distance

Josh Kerr (GBR)
Yared Nuguse (USA)
Cole Hocker (USA)
Marco Arop (CAN)

Men's long distance

Grant Fisher (USA)
Ronald Kwemoi (KEN)
Luis Grijalva (GUA)*
Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH)

Women's short sprints

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA)
Daryll Neita (GBR)
Brittany Brown (USA)

Women's short hurdles

Masai Russell (USA)
Cyrena Samba-Mayela (FRA)
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR)
Ackera Nugent (JAM)

Women's long sprints

Marileidy Paulino (DOM)
Salwa Eid Naser (BHR)
Alexis Holmes (USA)
Nickisha Pryce (JAM)
Gabby Thomas (USA)

Women's long hurdles

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Jasmine Jones (USA)
Rushell Clayton (JAM)
Shamier Little (USA)*

Women's short distance

Nikki Hiltz (USA)
Jess Hull (AUS)
Mary Moraa (KEN)
Diribe Welteji (ETH)

Women's long distance

Agnes Ngetich (KEN)
Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH)
Elise Cranny (USA)
Nozomi Tanaka (JPN)

*Absent from Kingston Slam.

The challengers (confirmed for the Kingston Slam)

Men's short sprints

Ackeem Blake (JAM)
Joseph Fahnbulleh (LIB)
Terrence Jones (BAH)
Courtney Lindsey (USA)

Men's short hurdles

Dylan Beard (USA)
Orlando Bennett (JAM)
Eric Edwards Jr (USA)
Omar McLeod (JAM)
Cordell Tinch (USA)

Men's long sprints

Christopher Bailey (USA)
Zandrion Barnes (JAM)
Busang Collen Kebinatshipi (BOT)
Vernon Norwood (USA)
Deandre Watkin (JAM)

Men's long hurdles

CJ Allen (USA)
Malik James-King (JAM)
Chris Robinson (USA)
Assinie Wilson (JAM)

Men's short distance

Mohamed Attaoui (SPA)
Neil Gourley (GBR)
Bryce Hoppel (USA)
Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN)

Men's long distance

Telahun Haile Bekele (ETH)
Dylan Jacobs (USA)
Thierry Ndikumwenayo (SPA)
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (CAN)
Cooper Teare (USA)

Women's short sprints

Tamara Clark (USA)
Kemba Nelson (JAM)
Alana Reid (JAM)
Jacious Sears (USA)
Jodean Williams (JAM)

Women's short hurdles

Nia Ali (USA)
Denisha Cartwright (BAH)
Amber Hughes (USA)
Danielle Williams (JAM)

Women's long sprints

Dina Asher-Smith (GBR)
Talitha Diggs (USA)
Stacey Ann Williams (JAM)

Women's long hurdles

Andrenette Knight (JAM)
Dalilah Muhammad (USA)
Cathelijn Peeters (NED)
Shiann Salmon (JAM)
Cassandra Tate (USA)

Women's short distance

Susan Ejore (KEN)
Natoya Goule-Toppin (JAM)
Sage Hurta-Klecker (USA)
Heather MacLean (USA)

Women's long distance

Melissa Courtney-Bryant (GBR)
Hellen Ekalale (KEN)
Whittni Morgan (USA)
Ejgayehu Taye (ETH)

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