The most revolutionary thing about Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track league might be its traditionalism. When you hear about new events designed to boost ailing sports the expectation is for grating gimmicks, wacky uniforms and a supporting cast of the world’s best and brightest TikTokers. Perhaps this would be The Hundred with hurdles?
Instead the opening weekend was a purist’s dream, jarringly so. It is hard to remember a challenger event like this going in so unadorned by bells and whistles. Only some unusual camera angles and mildly swishy opening titles give any clue about the upstart nature of Johnson’s project. “Track doesn’t need saving” is the line he has been trotting out. That seemed a big claim when you saw the size of the crowd.
Launching the new league in Jamaica is a laudable way to recognise the country’s contribution to the sport but crowds there are generally small for professional meets.
The prospect of witnessing Kenny Bednarek winning $100,000 was not enough to tempt locals along in great numbers, with Kingston’s National Stadium concernedingly empty on Friday’s opening night.
A shame, because there were several excellent races, especially the following night’s men’s 1500 metres in which Kenya’s 800m Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi beat the entire Paris 2024 podium. This is the sort of race Johnson and his fellow track die-hards are excited about; athletes testing themselves against rivals over unfamiliar distances and reaching new heights.
Salwa Eid Naser took the women’s 400m but brought a personal best from the United States’ Gabby Thomas in second, who is usually a 200m specialist. The camera cut to Johnson, hands to head in disbelief mouthing the word “wow”. Perhaps there were thousands of other impressed fans in the stands by then, but the wide shots suggested otherwise.
Here lies the challenge facing Grand Slam Track. It requires a good deal of knowledge about athletics to know and indeed care about someone like Thomas, let alone appreciate the context of her impressive time over a distance she does not usually run.
Existing athletics fans would have loved the opening weekend and it is credibly brave to believe in your sport enough to present it so unadorned, with full faith in the thrill of elite competition being enough to attract new fans.
That rather flies in the face of current trends, which suggest a bit more work is required to establish personalities and storylines to hook an audience. The league and the TV presentation, steered with consummate professionalism by Steve Cram, puts the athletes front and centre but they stand there alone.
It is presented as if the audience already have a stake and familiarity with the personalities, as if all have benefited from a Drive To Survive-esque rise in profile.
The other issue is the nagging absence of a few big names. Most notably Noah Lyles is yet to sign up and a men’s 100m without him at the moment feels somewhat redundant. Bednarek won that and Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith took home a big cheque of his own with 200m victory and second in the 400m.
An artful but baffling explainer attempted to outline the scoring system using stop-motion diagram drawing, but made a fairly straightforward concept difficult to follow, not helped by a monotone voice-over.
By Sunday at least the covered grandstand looked fuller than the first two days, although the back-straight bleachers still brought back unpleasant memories of Tokyo’s crowdless Olympics. Tough to see that situation changing much over the next three events, all in the United States, where only college athletics reliably attracts big crowds.
The pre-Olympics Diamond League meet at the London Stadium brought in 60,000 last year. Unknown as yet if the audience on TNT Sports 3 matched that on Sunday, although some will have switched off during a long stretch at the beginning of the broadcast with irritatingly choppy sound.
Anyone who enjoys athletics should want this to succeed. Competition is healthy for any sport and it is cheering to see a new initiative which does not rely on cheap contrivances.
There are also widespread feelings of peace and goodwill towards Johnson, unless you are an elite shot-putter or pole vaulter, given his snub to field events. But good vibes alone will not be enough to make his grand plan a success.
