Grand Slam Track Unveiled With Michael Johnson + Special Guests

Join us for a live unveiling and the launch of four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson’s new track league.

Learn all about the league, how it works, what’s at stake and what to expect when it launches in 2025.

Johnson has partnered with Winners Alliance, a global athlete licensing and sponsorship firm, to launch a new professional track and field league “that aims to better engage existing fans by providing a TV-friendly product to promote the sport’s biggest stars and draw new audiences through unique storytelling.”

Learn more about the league here: https://citiusmag.com/articles/michael-johnson-professional-track-league-grand-slam-track-everything-you-need-to-know

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I was aarg I’m fashion every e thank you every everyone for coming we will be starting in about 5 minutes please take a seat e e e e e e be stand I did I didn’t know all the swingers were here this is amazing well T’s here now now all the pressure why how do you do not have this job crazy uh good morning everybody Welcome uh my name is John Anderson um thank you uh and I am here because like so many other people I’m just I’m just a track fan it’s all it is uh we appreciate everybody taking their time to be here this morning because what we think we’re going to about to tell you is going to change the history of sport uh it is a new day that promises to be a Monumental day as we launch what we think is the future of the oldest sport track and field um like I’m pretty sure the guys that were painting The Grecian urn centuries ago did not have this in mind when it came so despite the thunderous Applause everyone had for me here um I’m the only person you’re going to hear from today who is not an Olympian which means I have already talked too much and they all have gold medal so I’m kind of shaking just because I’m like like Michael Johnson’s right behind that curtain and this is his project he is spearheading this so he is the person we want to hear from right now Michael Johnson four-time Olympic gold medalist and track and field entrepreneur [Applause] Michael thank you so uh we can you want to get comfortable let all right this will take a minute comtable we’ll go through it so um there’s two of us there’s eight Lanes in the track so I feel like we have a lot of talk about um but let’s start by just kind of maybe showing the people what you’ve got going it’s it’s an exciting day John this is so you know I am you can see with this big smile on my face that I’m so excited about this you know this is a new day for track and field the as you said the oldest sport you know in the world the most you know important sport inside of every other Sport and it’s what I owe my life to and this new league will revolutionize the sport bring track back to the Forefront and and make sure that going forward that athletes in this Sport and fans in this sport you know get what they’ve been asking for for so many years now and now that we see all the branding right we can officially say Grand Slam track is here Grand Slam track is here we’re forly now announcing this it’s Grand Slam track and let’s take a look at the video calling all rivals only the fastest calling The Grudge holders who would sell it all to break the tape I accomplished everything you dream about four gold m eight World Championships cover of Time Magazine all that but I never got to face my most bitter rival under the bright lights four times every year real money on the line that’s probably why you don’t even know his name calling all rivals we’re about to change this game okay so that that’s only Fant fastic when you come through there um Grudge holders and Rivals by the end of this somebody’s going to fight maybe if we do this right we’ll see what happens uh so you’re the guy that’s obviously out front you’re spearheading this but take me behind the scenes of why Grand Slam track and more importantly too why now yeah right now we are witnessing the greatest collection of amazing Personalities in this sport um I have never seen seen so many amazing personalities all at once in the sport willing to put themselves out there wanting to connect with their fans and and these athletes are doing a great job of that already with their with their social media we are also seeing performances at a level that we haven’t seen in quite some time so the performances the athletes are at a level that is unprecedented in addition to that just in sport in general we’re seeing the level of investment in sport and interest in sport you know at an all-time level so there has been no better time in that I’ve seen in the last 30 years or so where track and field as a sport is positioned to just explode and that’s what we’re doing with grand suum track and it couldn’t be more excited about this particular time we’ve got the Olympics coming up here next month in Paris and then the LA games coming back here uh in four years so it’s a very very good time for this yeah certainly and off the World Championships it’s a unique convergence of many things that are going together uh that we’re putting together so what everybody really is going to need to know now is like how’s this work because I’ve been to a regular track meet wa put them in a ling set gun off they go yeah what’s different here how’s it work yeah and and you know and to just to to be honest setting the best of the best athletes against one another and put them in a lane and let them go is compelling people love racing people want to see the best of the best and at the core of grand slam track is the best of the best athletes only the fastest competing head-to-head against one another four times a year um three-day events over a weekend our athletes are grouped um 12 groups six female groups six male groups um and grouped by distance eight athletes in each one of those groups four of those athletes are assigned to longterm contracts so they’re guaranteed to compete in all four of our slams each year four other athletes in each one of those groups can unlock a Lane The Challengers can unlock a lane based on their their latest performances our groups are short Sprints long Sprints short herles long hurdles short distance and long distance in each one of those groups there’s those those athletes will compete across two different races their combined score determines whether they win or where they place so the short Sprints group for example will be the 10000 meters the long hurdle group for example would be the 400 meter hurdles and 400 met flat or our short distance group for example the 800 met and 1500 M and so on and so forth so it provides a bit more Stakes it provides a lot more storytelling our fans get to see those athletes compete twice against one another over the weekend so if I’m in that Core Group if I am a racer I am there all four events right because the PGA they had the FedEx Cup and Tiger Woods got way ahead and he’s like I’m skipping the third one because I know I’ll be the Tour Championship I’ve got to be at all these you’re going to be at all of these if you one of our 48 Grand Slam track racers our grand slam track racers compete in all four slams throughout the year the other Challengers hello can the other four Challengers can actually uh unlock a lane during the season for one or more of those slams but the great thing about this league is that we now have athletes under contract who compete against one another four times a year and they’re guaranteed to be there that’s what our fans have been asking forth in track and Phil that the ability to see the athletes know that they’re going to be there and it’s going to be best against best and then my Challengers right like this isn’t the bachelor we’re just not pulling people off the street right like who’s it going to be and how do we kind of determine who’s going to put up the fight yeah so our uh Grand Slam track racing committee will determine first each year who our 48 Grand Slam Racers are going to be those 48 that are part of the league then during the season as athletes run fast times they enter the conversation as a challenger they enter the conversation as one of the best in that event say have best one of the best short sprinters as an example we have the ability now with our committee if we select that person to bring them in so let’s say that is a a kid who’s a college athlete who you know misses the first of our two slams but then finish the NCAA Championship exhaust their eligibility they’re now going to go pro you know now we can bring them in for those final two slams they are part of the conversation as one of the fastest in the world and you you said so that’s kind of the selection process who who’s who’s who’s making the decision so our grand slam track racing committee um will make those decisions we’ll make those decisions each year and and on an ongoing basis based on the fastest athletes the Champions and the most popular athletes and we won’t be shy about that John I mean you know the fans want to see the most popular athletes out there and then they want to see those rivalries we’ll lean into rivalries we’ll Lean Into You Know sort of the you know fans taking aide you know that’s that’s exciting about sports rivalries don’t have to be disrespectful but they’re fun uh so this isn’t my first Ro I’ve been around um nobody even if you have a great invent of idea nobody’s doing this for free um what’s at stake here for your Racers and for each um discipline each slam yeah so our prize money pool is the biggest prize money pool ever in the history of professional track and field so $100,000 for first place 50,000 for second 30,000 for third 25 for fourth and so on our last place uh eighth place is is $110,000 so that’s a big prize pool for track and fil but in addition to that from a compensation standpoint our grand slam track racers are signed to a contract they’re paid base compensation every year based on their value so at this point now you know in the past track athletes have not been paid to race they’ve been paid primarily to endorse a company now they can still do that but also be paid to race so to your point you know they should be paid and compensated you know commen it with their performance and what they bring and we’ll be doing that so I did the math if you add up those eight spots it’s 262,525 per event times six men six women so that’s like $3 million in price money it’s a little over $3 million in prize money for each one of our slams um and you know and but but importantly only spread across 96 athletes so you know at the end of the day you know these athletes you know they they they deserve to be compensated for their talent and for what they bring and and we’re doing that so again important to note as well that you know we’ll be paying our races based compensation and we very proud of the fact that in our first year some of our female athletes will be some of the highest paid female athletes in all of sport MH so bits and pieces of this have trickled out and we’ve heard some this is the obviously the the launch of grand slam track uh what kind of feelers have we gotten what kind of you know agents athletes that have like you know um does anybody have Michael Johnson’s phone number everybody you know the the excitement is palpable around this people have been because it’s sort of the finally you know there’s been a lot of talk about track all of us in the sport love the sport people outside the Casual fan knows this sport they get excited about it every four years so yeah those things that we’ve sort of dropped out there over the last several months that I’m doing this and we’re bringing this league to fruition has gone at a lot of excitement from athletes saying finally we’re going to be paid and recognized for our talent as we should be in commensurate with our talent and on par with the athletes from other sports fans of the sports are saying finally we’re going to get to see the best of the best compete against one another on a grand scale more than once every four years so I keep trying to use your term we need Racers right we got to have world class athletes um what’s my roster look like here on June 18th yeah so John we’re so excited to announce our first racer for Grand Slam track Olympic champion world champion world record holder St mlin lebrone has joined our team let’s bring out s [Music] so Sid we could make this quick and painless or since you told me you got to go to a workout we could be here a long time which would you prefer that’s a tough choice right there no it’s all good okay uh the trials are coming up how how how how are we preparing how you know where are we in our in our preps we’re feeling good um yeah just kind of fine-tuning things I feel like trials is always a great time time to kind of figure out what the rounds look like and the fitness is at and um we have some time still before Paris but always the hardest team to make so obviously got to go out there and put a performance on first like do you can you believe like this is your third Olympic trial that’s crazy to say your third I know um is there anxiety because you talked about it’s the toughest team to make and we don’t spoil like something goes wrong they’re like here you can watch on TV with Anderson yeah I mean obviously yeah it’s a very hard team to make we have so much depth um trying to make the team in every event it feels like and so I always respect your competitors but know that I can go out there and just continue to do what I’ve been doing so uh no anxiety just continuing to perform the best of my ability uh you’ve made a lot of history in this sport already with you know world record times and the gold medals and all that stuff uh what’s it like to make history is the first sign of the Grand Slam track League it’s an honor honestly uh very excited to be a part of this uh Endeavor Michael’s done a great job putting this together and just knowing that the future of track and field can grow exponentially and that athletes will have the opportunity to uh just grow this Sport and it’s in a place that’s ready to do that I’m excited to be a part of that in whatever capacity I can be so what is it about um the league or the project or this man yeah that you went okay this is this is a place for me I mean it it’s very professionally put together and I really feel like it’s going to elevate the platforms of the athletes that compete more than once every four years at the Olympics and give us opportunities to compete on a regular basis against the best of the best and to show you know where we are in our training um and just give opportunities for athletes to also be compensated for the hard work that we put in so often that people just don’t see and so uh I’m excited to just be a part of a official professional track League how hard was the sale jobs cuz like if I’d heard Michael’s base voice on the phone I’d be like I Surrender on the spot what do you need no I mean it was a great conversation and I feel like it was a very easy flowing understanding of athlete to athlete and and realizing that the sport needs to take that next step and so it really wasn’t that hard of a sales pitch it was more just logistical things honestly uh what’s it like in those meats that are kind of uncommon that hopefully now are more common place to line up against people that are um Rivals and of your ability and face off against them yeah I think you know because track is so kind of sporadic and how it’s set up people expect crazy times and crazy performances every time they see us because they don’t see us that often and I think this will kind of normalize seeing people through training cycles and in different parts of their training but still seeing the best of the best compete uh to the point where they’re just enjoying the fact that we get to race one another and seeing a good race as opposed to always always expecting something amazing and spectacular which can happen but you know just letting that anticipation build throughout the season right now you have the world lead in the open 400 in the flat um like how big a head start would you have to give Michael you think right now if you went at it right now yeah can he wear those shoes yeah that could make a difference that might help me a little bit like are you sub 50 shape where are you at your age right now you know I I get that question a lot John and you know I think the the perspective from for someone who hasn’t been in the sport is different they always say how fast could you run now but for an athlete we would feel like how slow would I be now and I don’t really have any interest in knowing that right I understand yeah I’m not really interested in knowing how much slower I am now than I was when I was at my best so I have no idea and we will never know very good that’s yeah just whatever you write down is what I believe is what’s going to happen I mean 43 42 just I mean absolutely uh you talked about the rivalries here right and and literally every great Champion it seems to me uh has had a rival whether it’s Oli Frasier whether it’s Chrissy Martina whether it is um listen affirmed in Aladar right like horses every the Celtics and the Lakers um the importance like who who was a rival of yours that you that you would like to have been you know like that just was like okay I can’t wait to go and and get after that guy I I had that rival I had the best I mean the the absolute best and Carl Lewis I mean Carl Lewis was the best ever I mean you know and as a long jumper as a sprinter a short Sprinter 100 meters 200 meters gold medals World Championships world records and and just a and a huge personality that you know you know you knew to go up against this guy he’s got confidence he’s you know supremely confident and he’s not going to give you anything so Grand Slam track does not have a master’s division yet yet uh it’s not here but um because you’ve talked about the importance of rivalries and we do have the nine-time Olympic gold medalist uh the man behind the curtain let’s bring out Carl Lewis [Applause] everybody all right be careful with that Master stuff now hey how how so I’m just looking so nine gold medals right you’re at two three two four four so together uh the four of us have 13 gold medals which is more than like 9 of countries 15 gold medals yeah that is more than some of those we could be a country I know you guys you guys could be uh so Carl from your side of things what made this guy a rival well you know it’s it’s really interesting because I think the biggest thing was the multiple events and I and I just don’t think people understand how hard it is to do the 400 and the 200 double and then in a day when we ran four rounds and and you guys ran one every day in a row right and so in the 200 was two races over three four race over three days so I think that’s the big thing you had to be ready because when you just run an Invitational meet against Michael that’s an easy day for him it’s like oh this is easy and so I was off in the long jump in the Sprints and he was off breaking the world records in the 400 and then we kind of met in the middle so it was it was absolute um tremendous robbery I’ve been in some great races with him I’ve been in some record races with him that he said so um a lot of respect and I think just adding on top of that it you he understands the dynamic of why this is important and it’s in a timely time for the sport so if there had been a grand slam track league in your Heyday and You’ had this chance uh what would that opportunity have meant to you because like at car Le you commanded kind of what you wanted where you wanted right so why would this have been significant to you well I think the thing and one of the things that you know Michael and I talked about that was different there there were more rivalries in those days I mean we had things like instead of the diamond League they had like the golden four and that was kind of the closest but this takes it to a completely another level um and the big thing is that I think athletes need to understand that if you want to be professional you have to act like a professional and you have to act like a business and just like the college kids that I talked to I tell them every day you get up and there are hundreds of things you don’t want to do every day and the sooner you learn to do them then the better off you’ll be so I think this this league gives a a a point where people can understand okay I need to do this I see the vision just like the grand slams and other sports um we know that you can plan for it because now everyone’s making their own schedule and the best thing about this to me is that it allows you to know this is a schedule this Grand slam’s going to be here every single year the dates are not going to change and we know what the benefits are financially so we would have this would have been great and I think it gives the athletes more of a control because it’s outside of just Federation because right now the world Athletics owns everything they own the diamond League they own the Contin league so this is something that’s separate from it I think it can grow and I think in the long run they’re going to have to change to fit into what’s happening with this league so M he he mentioned that diamond League all these things where does this fit is because it doesn’t seem to me like you’re trying to replace anything we’re augmenting but where do you see yourself fitting alongside what’s what’s out there right now yeah so this doesn’t exist there is no there has not been a specific league for the best of the best athletes the Sydney mclin of of track and field they have been part of I mean look 15,000 athletes competed last year in the Continental tour 15,000 there were 2500 athletes last year in the in the world championships all of those athletes need a place to to to compete but they’re obviously not all at the at the same level so the athletes who are the best of the best the world champions the Olympic Champions the fastest in the world the true fastest athletes deserve their own League that doesn’t exist and that is what this is so yes this can sit alongside everything else that exists in the sport there is a need for those races in the sport um but these athletes there’s also a need for the best of the best to have their own league so I don’t want to make this um like uh old guys get off my lawn but I looked it up right so back in the today Ronaldo neemi and Greg Foster race 62 times I can’t think of anybody currently that’s 62 times is the sport changed has it been whether it’s the meats available agents whatever uh car like are people less do they just not want to face those people anymore or is it you know why don’t we get guys in Lanes next to each other more often well I think where it starts is at in in a the way I look at the sport now as a whole we were actually amateurs trying to create a professional sport in a lot of cases they’re professionals running it an amateur Sport and and that’s why the league is so important because they’re they’re there is no connection with them and I need to go to these meets I need to have these races so that it makes the sport better so that it grows so I can benefit from that so so there’s the disconnect in the business side of it so therefore you’re you’re doing everything that you want to do which is not does not benefit the sport and so that we can grow everything and I think that what the league does it says okay you guys didn’t figure it out so we’re going to do it for you come in here and this is the the way future this is the way forward so I think the the big thing is that athletes need to understand that they’re going to have to give something to get more and and giving that something is losing some races and having challenging but what happened with this league um you’ll be able to have specific events that the public can know everyone’s going to be there and so it it’s musty TV as opposed to now um this me coming on and okay so and so’s there but this one’s not and I think that’s the biggest point cuz if you go to any Grand Slam in tennis or golf you know the best are going to be there so you actually plan to watch the US Open because you know they’ll be there right now you don’t know that so Michael you see this right you’re feeling a need here when that comes through do you think the need was meant was there because of athletes avoiding each other or because of the setup of the sport didn’t allow them to be together it’s the setup of the sport I think that the athletes enjoy competing against one another but they deserve to be compensated for that there is risk there’s Absolut when I was going to run against call there was risk there but it was made worth our while to do it you know that and that went away and now it’s not worth it so you know the structure of the sport in the past has not compensated those athletes to take that risk to go and compete against the best um in in in the sport so what we’re doing is compensating them for that you know we’re not not asking those athletes as well it’s the burden should not be on the athletes the athletes are doing what they what they should do they’re training and they’re preparing themselves to go out there and be at their best someone else needs to provide that platform to them to then go out there and display that best but you have to make it worth their while and that’s why our league is providing base compensation to those athletes and unprecedented levels of prize money okay last thing gold medal hundreds and 200s gold medal 400 hurdles gold uh as a high school high jump record holder thank you uh where are my field events Michael Johnson yeah so one of the thing we don’t we don’t have field events at Grand Slam track and and the reason for that is one of the other things that been a long-standing problem with this Sport and I’ve been on the television side of this with BBC for 24 years and I see how we struggle to bring that casual viewer in and even the Avid viewer and because we have so many things happening at once and so we are committed to one event at a time you will not see multiple things happening when you’re watching a grand slam Track event on television or uh attending in person with one event at a time in a three-hour window there is no place for us to fit field events we are committed to these athletes when they go out there and perform one of the other things as well with this is the athletes deserve and what they want is to be recognized for their time talent and that’s hard to do when you’re sort of you know hidden behind you know all of these other things that are happening and no one can really break through so we’re committed to allowing these athletes to be the center of focus the center of attention when their event comes on and they are the only thing happening on the track yeah let me add because I was a field event person um the reality right now you follow where the money is and the money when I talk about are the events because right now the field events are they’re difficult to host they take up time you have the CLA for the pole vault at the same time they’re stepping into blocks for the hurdles and it just just complicates things and you never know how the future or how that can be done but the bottom line is that these events are clean they’re it’s easy to understand you you run from there you finish there first place second place the field events are more complicated and that’s why even field event person who doesn’t know how to keep the mic up um understands that it’s not the way to start the marketing a program and I think that um I definitely want to definitely agree with that I think it’s better just to keep it as simple as possible people can focus on that specific thing I’m just making a note to myself for Wednesday start Grand Slam field um when it comes to no you did tell me that you’ve told me that once before where you said like you love long jump more than anything but to make money you need to be the fastest man in the world the Hun um I’m going to wrap with this a couple years ago it was pre- pandemic and in New York at the New York Athletic Club they had this big meeting it was like like how can we make track and field more popular how do we not only grow the sport how do we retain fans or get fans back that we used to have and there was this hourong discussion and then Craig silver the great track and field producer um whether it was CBS ABC finally goes um let me just cut through the chase here everybody the way to do that is get the best people and just put them in a lane next to each other every time we can talk about how long the window is we can talk about like just give me the two people that I need next to each other and that’s what you’ve done here absolutely I mean when we first started this I said out with my team and we started on this journey and we all agreed that we don’t need gimmicks this sport is amazing as it is people racing who’s the fastest everybody loves that you’ve watched it you’ve done it you know multiple times we’ve all raced and it’s compelling and people choose sides and it’s fantastic we don’t need gimmicks the sport is beautiful and it’s amazing it is the most important sport inside every other sports the oldest sport as we talked about it’s all about the presentation and just bringing the best athletes together and that’s what we’re doing and that’s what we’re so excited about yep and everybody’s done it people everyone go I don’t know if I like track I’m like did you ever race your best friend of the tree you’ve been in track and field when it comes through uh we thank everybody for your time here we thank everybody for coming we’re going to give U Sid and Carl and Michael about five minutes and then they’ll be uh available for some limited media if you want to get one of ones in chat with them about this thing uh again everybody more details are coming so um monitor you’ve got all kinds of social channels we can find Grand Slam track Twitter all these things we monitor those yep absolutely grandslam tr.com our website Twitter x uh Instagram we’re everywhere more details to come again thanks everybody for coming thanks everybody who watched whether it was on cityus here in the states uh globally because as you said there’s four events LA and then three spots to be determined one other US city um we have those cities already determined and we are announcing those in conjunction with those cities later this summer but one of the US city and two International cities our thanks to Carl Lewis to Sydney mcgoffin to Michael Johnson and to all of you for coming Grand Slam track is here thank [Applause] you for