Grand Slam Track Cancels Los Angeles Meet As $30 Million Track Start-Up Wobbles

Grand Slam Track—the nascent professional track circuit founded by four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson—is canceling its final race in Los Angeles scheduled for later this month, Front Office Sports has learned.

GST has an all-hands meeting scheduled for Thursday, a source said, where the status of the meet and the future of the company will be discussed.

In its first season, GST has completed three track meets, in Kingston, Jamaica; Miami, and Philadelphia, which ended last week and was downsized to two days from three. The Slam in the name GST mimics the Slams of tennis, of which there are four. Each Slam has six track event groups.  

GST had touted it would award $12.6 million in prize money in year one, so if it eliminates LA that could save more than $3 million, plus event and travel costs. The meet was scheduled for June 28–29 at UCLA.

Johnson discussed the cancellation in a video posted to social media Thursday evening.

“This was not a decision that we came to lightly,” Johnson said. “But it is the right decision for the long-term sustainability of the league…So we will go ahead now and conclude our season and conclude our season and focus on the 2026 season.”

In the three-minute video, Johnson emphasized that the league would be back next year and said that “we’ve proven everything that we needed to this year in the first three Slams.”

Sources close to GST ascribed the cancellation to a variety of factors.

“May postpone LA because of a new strategic partner/investor,” one source wrote in a direct message. “Geopolitical climate in LA also doesn’t help,” referring to the anti-ICE protests in the city where the federal government has deployed troops.

It’s unclear why new investment money would affect the LA meet. Sources close to Grand Slam insist money is not an issue.

A second source cited a poor lease agreement with UCLA. Johnson said the circuit was committed to returning to Los Angeles next year.

Last year, Winners Alliance—backed by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman—invested $30 million in Grand Slam. As of September, the company had raised $39.5 million, according to Pitchbook.

In an interview with Front Office Sports last month, Johnson said he was disappointed by the poor attendance in Kingston, saying many fans bought tickets and then didn’t show up. He told reporters in Philadelphia that the new two-day format was an improvement.

GST is one of several U.S.-based track start-ups. Athlos, backed by Alexis Ohanian, is a women’s only event that staged its first meet September 26, 2024, in New York.  Total prize money exceeded $600,000. Since, Athlos has signed as advisers and owners Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas—who also runs in Grand Slam—with another New York meet scheduled for October of this year.

Start-up leagues have flooded sports, from women’s basketball (Unrivaled), to tennis (Intennse), to volleyball and golf (TGL), to name just a few. As institutional money pours into sports, recognizing the sector as a distinct asset class, there is more money to start untested ideas. Johnson has talked about a professional track circuit for decades.

Track and field, like many Olympic sports, struggles with visibility in the years between the Games. There is the international Diamond League, though prize money is modest on that annual track and field circuit. Johnson’s concept is a more geographically compact series of four events with significant money.  But whether there is a market remains an open question. 

This story has been updated with comment from Michael Johnson.