Grand Slam Track Debuts – Americans, Including Grant Fisher & Nikki Hiltz, Shine & Win 6 of 8 Races

Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track League debuted Friday in Kingston, Jamaica amidst warm conditions (80 degrees, 55% humidity, 62 dew point shortly after it started), a lot of fanfare, but a sparse crowd. Below, we recap the events starting with the distance events. We have a separate article on our biggest takeaways from the meet.

Men’s 5000: Grant Fisher earns his first international victory as the Americans surprisingly go 1-2-3

Considering the men’s 5000 was unrabbitted and run in high 70-degree temps, a tactical race wasn’t a shock. But if the over/under for winning time was set at 14:35, we don’t think many people would have had the over. But that’s exactly what happened.

As 11.5 laps of jogging (4:34 first 1600, roughly 7:37-8 at halfway), the final lap was a thriller. With about 85 meters to go, four men were basically tied for the lead and in the end, it turned out amazingly well for the Americans. Halfway down the home stretch, three Americans were side-by-side tied for the lead. Would Dylan Jacobs or Cooper Teare actually pull off the huge upset? 

No. Double indoor world record holder and double Olympic medallist Grant Fisher timed his kick to near perfection, closing in 51.6 (25.6-26.0) and got the win in 14:39.14 as Teare ended up second in 14:39.31 with Jacobs third in 14:39.56. Fisher, who was 4th in on the rail as they field approached the bell, ended up getting shuffled all the way back to 7th in the 8-person field on the first turn of the final lap, but he didn’t panic and was rewarded with his first international win.

Embed from Getty Images

Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet, who along with compatriot Telahun Bekele was one of two men in the field who had ever won a Diamond League 5000, repeated the same exact mistake he made in the Paris Olympics – he went way too hard, way too soon and totally misjudged what he had left. Gebrhiwet, who was running 7th or 8th for most of the race, used a huge acceleration ten meters before the bell to get to the front. He gapped the field on the backstretch but had nothing left over the final 200 (27.5) as his 52.9 final lap left him in fourth (14:40.20). Olympic silver medallist Ronald Kwemoi was fifth (14:40.64) while the 12:42 man Bekele, who ran the 10,000 last week, only was 7th 14:42.20 despite having the lead at the bell.

Race Video (Need a US VPN? Use the one we use)

Women’s 800m: Hiltz wins thriller as Moraa bombs

Olympic bronze medalist Mary Moraa entered the race as the favorite but she was absolutely awful, fading all the way to last.

In her absence, the win was there for the taking and American Nikki Hiltz took advantage winning in a big pb of 1:58.23 (previous pb of 1:59.03) and a world lead. Without pacers, the pace was still an honest 58.34 through 400, with the whole field bunched close behind. Hiltz (a biological female who prefers they/their pronouns) made their move to the front at 400 and never looked back. The whole field followed close behind with Ethiopian Diribe Welteji, the 2023 world championship silver medallist at 1500 who sports a 1:57.02 800 pb, mounting a charge with a hundred to go, Welteji would almost come even with Hiltz in the last 50 meters, but Hiltz was able to stay a hair ahead in a wire-to-wire finish 1:58.23 to 1:58.29 as Jess Hull came in third in a new pb of 1:58.58 (old pb of 1:59.99).

The big question is if Hiltz will be able to translate their improved 800 success over to the 1500. Hiltz was able to win a close race at the U.S. trials last year but was 7th in Paris, a clear tier below the top five women who ran 3:53 or quicker. Hiltz’s closing speed will be valuable if Hiltz is able to be there at the bell in major races, but in this day in age global 1500 finals have become time trials, meaning that you need the strength to be in the picture with a lap to go. 

We should get a glimpse of this in the 1500 Saturday where Hiltz will face off against Hull, Welteji and Susan Ejore, the second, fourth and six place finishers in Paris. Expect Hiltz, Hull and Welteji to be the players for the event and overall win on day two. 

Women’s 3000 – Taye wins as the Africans dominate

Heading into the women’s 3000, the big question was, ‘Would the East African long-distance specialists (the two Ethiopians having 5000 pbs under 14:20 and the two Kenyans with 10k pbs under 30 (and one under 29)) still dominate at the shorter 3k distance?

Answer?

Most definitely yes.

Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich with her road pbs of 28:46 and 63:04 made this one honest from the gun, running a pair of 68s. At 1600 (roughly 4:34), Ngetich and the two Ethiopians – Tsige Gebreselama, the 2023 world cross country silver medallist, and Ejgayehu Taye, the 2023 bronze medallist at 10,000 – had gapped the field. With two laps to go, it was down to Ngetich and Taye. Taye sat on Ngetich before she took the lead with 200 to go and won in 8:28.42 thanks to a 64 last lap as Ngetich got a new 3000 pb of 8:28.75 (for 2nd). Ngetich running sub-830 in warm and windy conditions shouldn’t come as a shock as the pace she ran for 3k today is 28:15 10,000, pace so she’s run almost as fast for more than 3 times as far.

Long Sprints – Women’s 200: Gabby Thomas wins easily

The first race in the history of GST was no contest as the Olympic 200 champ Gabby Thomas smoked everyone as the race was never in question, winning in 22.62, a full .31 in front of Olympic 400 champ Marileidy Paulino. The intrigue immediately was what was happening behind Thomas.

Since your payout at Grand Slam Track is based on performance across 2 races (for this event group it is the 200 and 400), and the $100,000 is almost certainly going to go to someone who wins a race, there was no-one going through the motions, particularly with the 400m specialists. Paulino, running in lane 2, was going all out as was former world champ Salwa Eid-Naser. In the end, Paulino ended up second in 22.93 with Dina Asher-Smith third (22.96) and Naser fourth (22.99). 

If Thomas wants to win the 100k, she really needs Paulino to not win the 400 which seems unlikely. Either that or she has to finish second and within .31 of her.

Final 1, Wind: -0.2

Men’s 100m: Short Sprints Kung Fu Kenny Takes Round One

The nightcap on day one was the men’s short sprint category, which opened with a 100 featuring several Olympic finalists. In the end, it was Kenny Bednarek the Olympic silver medalist over 200 who prevailed in a tight race with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, who came on late, but ran out of track, getting edged out by .01, 10.07 to 10.08. Bednarek said in the post-race interview that he had been working on his start over the offseason, but said that he thinks that that was not evident today. He believes that he put it all together this offseason. If this is true and he is able to pair an improved 100 with his top end speed in the 200 he will at least have a CHANCE to match or upgrade his second-place finish from Paris. 

Perhaps the bigger story than Bednarek’s expected success was how badly double Olympic medalist Fred Kerley did. He was a total non factor in the race, getting out to a bad start, and allowing the entire field to run away from him in the second half of the race finishing in a dismal 10.30, good for only 7th place. It was his slowest 100 by quite some margin since 2019. Kerley said that he is not worried about the result as he knows that he will show up when it matters. 

This is one of the quirks of a league that is starting five months out from the world championships. Some athletes like Jakob Ingebrigtsen, seem to be able to stay in shape all year round but for many being primed for five months is just not feasible. 

Wind -0.3. Rank – Competitor – NAT – Time – Points

1 – Kenny Bednarek – USA – 10.07 – 12

2 – Oblique Seville – JAM – 10.08 – 8

3 – Zharnel Hughes – GBR – 10.13 – 6

4 – Ackeem Blake – JAM – 10.13 – 5

5 – Courtney Lindsey – USA – 10.25 – 4

6 – Terrence Jones – BAH – 10.26 – 3

7 – Fred Kerley – USA – 10.30 – 2

8 – Joseph Fahnbulleh – LBR – 10.39 – 1

Men’s Long Sprints – 400 – Is Chris Bailey reaching a new level or just really sharp for April?

World Indoor champ Chris Bailey kept the ball rolling, laying down an early world lead running a quick 44.34 in a duel with Olympic silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith. Smith got out hard the first 200, but was reeled in on the turn, and Bailey powered down the home straight for the win. The question is if Bailey, who ran a full indoor season is just much sharper than his fellow racers, or is he in for a monster season, running just .03 off his PB. 

Olympic finalists, Muzala Samukonga and Jereem Richards, the third and fourth place finishers in Paris, looked uncompetitive, finishing in 45.27 and 45.35 for 6th and 7th place. Last year, Samukonga ran a similar time this time of the year – 45.37 for 2nd at the All African Games on March 20th. Last year, Richards only ran 46.64 at World Indoors 

M/W Long Hurdles – Stars Shine Bright 

The men’s and women’s hurdles races were largely uneventful. In both the men and the women’s race Olympic medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Alison Dos Santos were the favorites and were able to pull away late en route to dominant victories. 

Sydney was pressed early but effortlessly pulled away the final 150, running 52.76, the quickest time ever in the month of April, yet somehow only the 13th quickest time of her legendary career to come away with a 1.83 second victory. The time was very much in line with where she normally opens up in the 400h –  52.83 (2021), 51.61 (2022), 52.70 (2024).

While there is no doubt that Sydney will win tomorrow, both the open 400 and overall event, the real question is how quick she will run, especially with the lack of competition she will likely face. Fans will likely be treated to Mclaughlin-Levrone in the women’s long sprints in future slams where she will face much stiffer competition in the form of Olympic gold and silver medalists Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid-Naser, along with 200 champ Gabby Thomas. Dalilah Muhammad, Rushell Clayton and Andrenette Knight who finished in second, third and fourth will be battling it out for those same positions in the overall slam in the 400 on Sunday. 

In the men’s race, Dos Santos was able to follow a similar game plan, stalking former NCAA champion Caleb Deane until Hurdle 8, where he flew by finishing strong in the final home straight finishing in a world leading a 47.61 as Deane would fade over the final 100 to third. Do not expect much to change in the overall standings on Sunday as the second race for these hurdlers is the flat 400.    

Talk about GST on our world-famous messageboard fan/forum at letsrun.com/forum:

• MB: Official Grand Slam Track Kingston – Day 1 Live Discussion Thread
• Grant Fisher 14:39 5000! Believe it or not, it may win him $100,000. Was it this biggest win of his career? It was a good day for Nikki Hiltz as well as Hiltz won the 800.
• Could prime centro have won the 5k today? gr
• Review of Day 1 – Grand Slam Track – Has GST become the “Fyre Festival” of the athletics world? The races were pretty good in our book The crowd was disappointing but we were expecting that.
• Grand Slam Track is an obvious money grab right?
• Grand Spam Track made me appreciate Diamond League
• After Day 1 of Grand Slam Track, It is pretty clear that this league will not succeed.