It's not good for the sport - World Athletics president monitoring Grand Slam Track athletes' payment controversy

In light of the recent controversy regarding Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track (GST) League and outstanding payments to athletes, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has publicly addressed the situation.

Johnson abruptly cancelled the final leg of the league series in Los Angeles, after successful debuts in Kingston, Miami, and Philadelphia. Despite a total winning prize fund of $12.6m announced, some athletes are understood to have not been paid, months after competing.

“It’s not good,” sain Lord Coe in an interview with The Guardian. “The one thing that World Athletics has always stood strongly behind is the athletes. So yeah, this is not a good situation. It’s a startup, but the athletes do need paying.

“For these things to work, they can’t be vanity projects. They have to be suffused in practicality and deliverability. I just want the events that are going to add lustre, that we can find space for, and we will encourage them to at least have the courtesy of spending that kind of time and that kind of effort, both intellectual and resource, in making sure they work,” he added.

For context, Olympic and world champions were promised appearance fees up to $200,000 and prize money of $100,000 per event champion. However, many are yet to be paid for the three meets they competed, and only Kingston's appearance fees have reportedly been disbursed so far.

It is not unusual for a time lag between competition and remuneration, but, given the abrupt end to the aborted first season, runners are concerned over individual payments that stretch well into six figures and have raised the issue with World Athletics.

When asked if World Athletics has the power to intervene on athletes’ behalf, Coe replied: “Well, let’s just watch this space.”

Nonetheless, Coe insisted he remains fully supportive of privately funded athletics events.

“It was in everybody’s interest for something like this to be successful. We’re not the ‘computer says no’ command-and-control federation.

“From the very moment I became president of World Athletics, I talked about the need to be more creative and partner – don’t shy away from forming those relationships. So we were very clear that this had to be done properly and executed properly. Hopefully, [create] an additional attraction in the sport,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Johnson hasn’t given exact payment dates, though he's now seeking new sponsors and hopes to relaunch the GST league series in 2026.