The four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson has serious goals regarding the Grand Slam Track. Through the ambitious track and field project, the veteran wants to resolve the issue of low earnings in athletics. Furthermore, with a band of sponsors and media behind, he looks forward to developing the sports culture. “I think it [GST] will drive the sport forward. There’s a common assumption that the hierarchy in the sport is happy with the way that it is and something that comes in new is disruptive to that in a negative way,” he mentioned. But almost six months before the first Slam, are Johnson’s wishes falling into place perfectly? 

Track and field sports enthusiasts have serious questions about that. Reason? The latest signing process in the Grand Slam Track has come under heavy fire. The fans have started to raise their voice on the inclusion of an athlete, Salwa Eid Naser. Notably, on November 21, the GST published five athletes’ names as the latest signees in Johnson’s brainchild. The names are Daryll Neita, Mary Moraa, Elise Cranny, Nozomi Tanaka, and Salwa Eid Naser. Among those names, only Naser’s entry has posed some serious questions. 

As a whole, the Bahraini athlete has an impressive resume, with an Olympic silver in the women’s 400m event. But fans have pointed out the suspension fiasco that once forced her to miss the Tokyo Olympics. She faced the ax because she missed three drug tests in 12 months. Based on that, on Reddit, a fan ridiculed, “Naser.. why are they signing drug cheats?”  However, Salwa came under scrutiny in 2020 because of the doping charges. After that, she competed in a lot of global contests, including the Paris Olympics. Then why is she facing the barrage now? Well, there are multiple reasons. 

Remember Salwa Eid Naser’s press conference after winning the silver medal in the Paris Olympics? Let me break that for you. In the press conference, the 26-year-old was hounded by the journalists, questioning her eligibility. Naser, however, handled the issue mindfully. She claimed that her missing drug tests had never been “intentional.” Rather, she said, “They were just mistakes a normal human being can make.” That address could have made the issue cold. But the situation had never been that easygoing. How?

Just eight months before the Paris Olympics, the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA) had to face charges of “serious anti-doping rule violations” from the Athletics Integrity Unity (AIU). Because of this, the watchdog put a notice on BAA. No, it wasn’t an outright ban. Rather, AIU limited the entry of Bahraini athletes in the Paris Olympics. It came down to 10 maximum. Furthermore, in the upcoming World Athletics Championships as well, BAA will have to follow the same ruling. In the meantime, the athletes under the BAA flag may not participate in any contests under the World Athletics banner. The one-year ban has been active since June 1 this year. The board will also have to spend around $7.3 million in the next four years to remove the doping and integrity risk in national athletics. Those charges leave a ground of suspicion for the fans. They have ultimately pointed fingers at Naser’s ‘failures’. 

Michael Johnson’s track and field project invites unexpected debates 

In June 2021, Salwa Eid Naser was handed a two-year ban for an anti-doping violation. After that, she quickly came out to be the prime opponent of Marileidy Paulino, the Olympic champion in the 400m event. And after a brief period, she didn’t have to face any serious doping charges. Someone from the Reddit fan base remembers that part of the story. 

In the comment box, the concerned fan penned, “This isn’t a defense for Naser, but she has never tested positive for doping and was rather banned for whereabouts failures.” The lines justified her entry into Michael Johnson’s league. However, another track and field sports fan jumped into the debate. The fan noted, “She has also served a whereabouts ban. Worth noting she actually missed four tests in under a year but had one strike knocked off. Missing four tests in one year is astonishing levels of sketchy given there are athletes who go there whole careers never missing one.”

By addressing that, the fan tried to give examples of other athletes who never faced any question mark in their careers. Example? Marileidy Paulino herself. The Dominican athlete has always been clean and stood on the mark. But now she will have to run with Naser, whose country’s athletics board is facing a ban. That fiasco led another fan to comment, “Which involved her giving an adress that didn’t exist and no other contact information. Its very easy to dope when you deliberately avoid tests.”

Nonetheless, there’s not any conclusive information that has come to the fore regarding Naser consuming banned elements. But the BAA is banned from participating in any World Athletics contests, active from June 1, 2024. Though Naser has been included in the lineup of GST, that fact made another fan comment, “Mind catching me up to speed on why she’s a drug cheat?” The question has seemed to be expected in the ongoing situation. But nothing has come out yet from the GST authority. Well, how do you see the bigger picture?