Michael Johnson revealed that Grand Slam Track faced major hurdles early on, but persistence led to a breakthrough in securing top talent.
American sprint legend Michael Johnson has explained why Grand Slam Track struggled to convince athletes to sign at first.
The four-time Olympic champion revealed that getting athletes was one of the difficult things to do even though the athletes had always been lamenting about the poor state of track and field.
Michael Johnson revealed that most athletes were afraid of embracing change and the fact that they would be competing against their serial rivals four times a year was one of the scariest things athletes were concerned about.
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However, after their launch in June last year, Michael Johnson revealed that things went seamlessly and they were able to get athletes who signed for the league.
“The biggest challenge for us was always getting athletes to commit to competing against their primary rivals four times in a year and committing to that in advance,” Michael Johnson said in an interview with Athletics Weekly.
“It was a little bit of both, before deciding to go and build this business, I always knew that this is what athletes have been wanting, begging for and screaming for.
“I always knew that change is hard for people so I think it was a little bit of both. We started talking to athletes back last spring and then we started to ramp that up after doing our formal launching.”
He bragged about having signed some of the fastest and most talented sprinters despite being snubbed by Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles.
Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was the first racer to be announced before the other 47 racers were announced.
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Quincy Wilson has been making headlines for his record-breaking speed and rising career, while his relationship with Masai Russell’s younger sister adding intrigue to his journey.
Josh Kerr, Mary Moraa, Agnes Ngetich, Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek are some of the stars who have signed with the track league.
“Obviously, you are always going to have some resistance but you know the fact that we got 48, the biggest challenge was always getting athletes to commit to this. By and large, the athletes are down with it and they love it,” Michael Johnson revealed.
The first batch of challengers from Jamaica has since been announced and they include former Olympic champion Hansle Parchment, reigning world 100m hurdles champion Danielle Williams, and Malik James-King.
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Reigning world unde-20 champion Alana Reid, Orlando Bennett and Shiann Salmon have also signed as challengers.
