Michael Johnson releases statement about late payments for Grand Slam Track athletes

Grand Slam Track boss Michael Johnson released a statement about the late payments of athletes for his inaugural league.

The league, having held in three cities (Kingston, Miami, and Philadelphia) before its final leg in Los Angeles was abruptly cancelled, and inevitably conclusion of its 2025 season, has seen some athletes yet to be paid months after competing.

Despite a total winning prize fund of $12.6m announced during its launch in 2024, athletes are yet to be paid after one of the investors pulled out.

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.

With this in mind and the World Athletics president Seb Coe alerted on stepping in, Johnson dropped a statement revealing the difficulties he's going through and how he hopes a solution can be found soon.

Here is the statement embedded below.