Times of London: Grand Slam Track Athletes could have to pay back some of the money they already have received

Colleen Quigley has entered the room

wtf... GST just keeps finding to make the situation more of a sh!t show

Grand Slam Back

Grand Scam Track

With the meager amounts the vendors are owned, I doubt they force a bankruptcy. Some of them have legal teams on retainer, but the process isn't a quick one even if they've been doing everything on a timely basis up to now to receive payments.

With exception to the Philadelphia grand slam, all of the others had very poor in- person attendance numbers. That is the biggest issue. If people aren't showing up to watch world class runners, then the future of the entire series needs to be questioned; and it isn't helping MJs image any.

“Today is the beginning of Grand Slam Track’s reboot,” says the memo, obtained by FOS. “We apologize for frustrations and hardships caused by the payment delays to date. Over the next 60 days, we will be working hard to make things right with everyone who helped make 2025 a success, to best position GST for 2026 and beyond. This is a critical step in that delicate and difficult process, but know there is a path. Our appreciation of your grace and support as we walk that path cannot be overstated.”

I am starting to wonder if Michael Johnson is delusional. I'm wondering about his mental stability. EVERYBODY knows there is a 0% chance that there is another season of GST. It is DONE. FINISHED. OVER. And yet he sends a memo to the athletes like this? Does he actually believe that there is any athlete in the world, any sponsor, any facility, any agent, anyone at all, that would have anything to do with his catastrophe?

He should have called it Titanic Track and Field, the "unsinkable" track league. And now he is standing on the deck as the ship is half under water saying, "This ship cannot sink! It is unsinkable!"

Starting? At this point its just impressive he can make it worse every few months.

This is like deciding to build a house and getting the plans drawn up, leveling the land, pouring the foundation, digging all your utility lines and even starting some framing and then it turns out you decided to build on a sink hole and the whole thing starts cratering into it. And even though you still owe the architect, the excavation crew, the concrete guys, the utility providers from the first time around and don't have the money to pay them, you just dust the hands off and say "never mind all this, we are going to start fresh just over here and forget like any of this other mess happened".

I think Michael Johnson has bought into the "fake it to you make it" a little too extreme here. It's hard to feel bad for someone like him but I think I'm getting there - I don't think mental health can be very "robust" right now.

Is the execs' pay safe?

Reminds my of the Fyre Festival. Its founder has also intermittently popped up trying to hype a revival (after getting out of prison for the fraud he committed in the first iteration).

Not a hot take but feel far worse for the challengers who thought they had life-changing money only to get the rug pulled. A few got shoe contracts on the backs of their performances, so that helps. But for any of these athletes who won big in Philly/Miami its clear GST was acting in bad faith by having the meets go on without money to pay anyone.

there are ways to legally shield assets from creditors. Many athletes will do so.

Grand Slam Track might be the worst, most depressing thing/outcome of a concept I’ve ever seen in my 39 years as a pro sorts fan. The fact that it only took 3 meets for disaster to unfold just illustrates how much of a sh*tshow it all is/was