As track and field fans, we always look out for Michael Johnson’s next move. If anyone has changed the landscape of the sprinting world, it would have to be this four-time Olympic champion, Johnson. After the Grand Slam Track seems to be the newest gig by him, that’s garnering much attention!

GST is an upcoming track and field league by American sprinter Michal Johnson—a league that he believes can redefine the sport. He even compared his athletes to the legendary Usain Bolt. The league was finally announced in April this year, and with a total investment of $30 million, the league sets high hopes. But hold on! Will these hopes be shattered soon? With the financial crises and Johnson’s bold claims, will GST live up to the fans’ expectations?

The event will start in Kingston, Jamaica, in April 2025, with top athletes on board. Champions like McLaughlin Levrone (four-time Olympic champion), Cole Hocker (1500m gold medalist), Quincy Hall (400m Olympic champion), and Masai Russell (women’s 100m hurdles, amongst others). With these champions, Johnson is very sure that his league debut will be a success. He added, “What you’re witnessing right now is the greatest collection of personalities we’ve seen in the sport in quite some time.”

‘The Man With the Golden Shoes’ even compared the athletes with the legend, focusing on the fact that we have aspiring athletes and history can be made again. He reflected on his feelings by saying, “You think about the [Usain] Bolt era, and it was only him. Now we have multiple amazing personalities.” 

This new league will commence next year, from April to September, with the finals being hosted in Los Angeles, USA, from June 27-29. The timeline raises questions, as the New York City Grand Prix is also scheduled for June 29. This can impact the league finale. CGP is one of the most popular meets in the US and is attended by top athletes.

Amid these challenges, Johnson is championing the Grand Track Slam—an innovative initiative designed to bring the sport closer to fans. The sixteen-time world and Olympic sprint champion seems quite confident about his league and will elevate the track and field like other sports, as the popularity of this particular game fluctuates with time. He said, “It’s popular at a very high level every four years during the Olympics, then falls out significantly in between. So the vision is to elevate the sport to this sort of level of UFC, Formula One, tennis, golf, and other individual sports.” As Michael Johnson has high hopes and confidence in his Grand Slam Track league, financial crises can be a setback for him.

Michael Johnson’s dream might get shattered amidst the financial crises.

When the world record holder announced his league, a buzz was created among fans and the track & field community with high hopes. Things got suspicious about the success due to the winning prize money—$100,000 in 12 event groups and $60,000 for Diamond League award winners. The prize money in itself raises concerns; a huge amount of money is being spent on the prize money with no other investors on board. A question arises: how will the GST league sustain itself?

Financial crisis rumors got heated up when UK athletics, one of the hosts, rejected their involvement, citing financial risk. As per the Guardian report, the chief executive of the UKA, Jack Buckner, said, “We’re positive about Michael Johnson’s format. But three days of just track athletics is a lot of tickets to sell in the London Stadium, and the cost base comes pretty high there. They did approach us, and we had a really good discussion with them. We would like to have a bigger, more comprehensive events portfolio, but we want that built on strong, sustainable foundations.”

Bucket further added, “We don’t want to—gamble is too strong a word—but if you don’t get an event right and you don’t budget for it properly, it can lose a lot of money quickly, which is what happened historically.” As per the reports, they have lost around £800,000 in 2022 during Birmingham’s Diamond League, and another huge sum (£500,000) in the World Indoor Tour in February 2023. And that’s not all; UKA announced a £1.2m loss in the 2023-2024 financial year. This seems so intense and tricky if Johnson’s GST will work out.

All four venues of GST have already been declared, starting with Miami, Kingston, and Los Angeles, and the league will end in Philadelphia. Choosing Jamaica over America is also creating controversy.  Another reason for the crisis can be the broadcast revenue. The GST league will be streamed only on Citius Mag’s YouTube channel, which means no big revenue is upcoming. With all of this mess, GST doesn’t have any brand deal to invest in or sponsor Johnson. The question is still intact: with huge hopes and high stakes, how will GST reach the success Michael Johnson is expecting? Will top athletes who are compared with Usain Bolt by him be able to make GST a successful debut league?