28 h. ago Grand Slam Track promises new era for athletics but healthy scepticism remains

Grand Slam Track gets underway in Jamaica this weekend with Michael Johnson's new competition promising rivalries and unrivalled prize money for athletics' biggest names

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44 h. ago Big matchups and bigger bucks: Michael Johnson pledges Grand Slam Track will bring ‘fantasy to life’

Athletics legend says his new four-part event, which launches on Friday, is exactly what the sport needsMichael Johnson is one of the few true legends of track and field. Now, though, he is chasing the holy grail. Every four years, athletics is the biggest sport at the Olympics. In between, for most casual fans, it tumbles off a cliff. But Johnson, a four-time gold medallist across the Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Games, believes he can change all that with a new big-money professional track league, Grand Slam Track, which launches on Friday in Kingston, Jamaica.“Grand Slam Track is the equivalent of UFC and Formula One,” he tells the Guardian. “The research tells us that people watched track during the Olympics because of the stakes, the stars, and the stories. So that is the recipe. And at the absolute heart of it is the head-to-head competition between the best athletes. Because that’s what people want to see.” Continue reading...

Politics

45 h. ago ‘No gimmicks’: Michael Johnson details exactly what to expect from Grand Slam Track

Grand Slam Track is ‘what the sport needed’, says co-founder Michael Johnson ahead of opener in Kingston

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2 d. ago Josh Kerr: ‘Grand Slam Track is the start of a new era, the stakes are so high’

The 1,500m world champion tells Jack Rathborn how he is embracing ‘a new era’ for athletics when he kicks off his Grand Slam Track campaign on Saturday and why he has no regrets after beating rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen but failing to win gold at last summer’s Olympics

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3 d. ago Josh Kerr: ‘You’re not doing anything if people aren’t hating on you’

The 1,500m world champion tells Jack Rathborn how he is embracing ‘a new era’ for athletics when he kicks off his Grand Slam Track campaign on Saturday and why he has no regrets after beating rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen but failing to win gold at last summer’s Olympics

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5 d. ago Welcome to Grand Slam Track, Michael Johnson’s brainchild with speed stars, prize money and live data

The new athletics league launches in Kingston, Jamaica this weekend with a radical format and an ambitious goal to capture ‘the youngest fanbase of any sports league in the world’ – but will it fly or flop?

Politics