Michael Johnson has reflected on his first overseas race as he launches Grand Slam Track, a revolutionary, rivalry-focused, lucrative professional track league.
American legend Michael Johnson has revealed how it felt for him to compete outside his homeland for the first time in his track career.
The Olympic champion whose Grand Slam Track event that was launched last year is finally set to be staged in April at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, said racing outside his homeland was an eye opener.
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Johnson, who is a world champion, first tested victory in Jamaica, and Kingston holds some significant memories for him ahead of the first leg of the Grand Slam.
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“I ran down there twice in college in relay events, in 1989 and 1990. It was eye-opening. I’d never seen that level of talent,” Johnson told Athletics Weekly.
Established names like Masai Russell, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and others will race in Kingston for the first of the four meetings – others will follow in Miami, Philadelphia and then LA – that form the inaugural staging of Grand Slam Track, the project being driven by the former 200m and 400m world record-holder which is promising to bring change to the sport.
Grand Slam Track is planning to do things a bit differently, with a total of 48 athletes, or ‘Racers’, already been signed up and are contracted to compete in one of six event groups in each of the four “Slams”.
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At each Slam, every Racer will have to take part in two different disciplines – for example, US star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will race over the 400m hurdles and the 400m flat, while her fellow American Cole Hocker will take on not just his more familiar 1500m distance but also the 800m.
On top of that, those 48 Racers will come up against 48 “Challengers”, whose identities will be different from Slam to Slam, with the first prize for coming out on top being $100,000. It’s all designed to create a professional, and more lucrative, league that sits at the top of the sport, places the focus on rivalries rather than times and draws more attention.
The biggest challenge, according to Johnson was always going to be getting athletes to commit to competing against their primary rivals four times.