Sebastian Coe has admitted that World Athletics is closely watching unpaid fees to athletes from Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track series.
Last month, Michael Johnson cancelled the last event in Los Angeles because not many people showed up at the first three meetings in Miami, Philadelphia, and Kingston, Jamaica. When the series started, a total amount of $12.6 million (£9.3 million) was promised, but unfortunately, some athletes still haven’t been paid.
Normally, it takes some time after a race for athletes to receive their money. However, because the first season ended suddenly, runners are worried about not receiving their full payments, given that some amounts are very large.
Coe said: “There is no point in pretending this is a satisfactory situation.”
“It’s not good… The one thing that World Athletics has always stood strongly behind is the athletes. So yeah, this is not a good situation. It’s a startup, but the athletes do need paying.
“For these things to work, they can’t be vanity projects. They have to be suffused in practicality and deliverability. I just want the events that are going to add lustre, that we can find space for, and we will encourage them to at least have the courtesy of spending that kind of time and that kind of effort, both intellectual and resource, in making sure they work,” Coe added.
Grand Slam Track didn’t want to comment, but some agents were told their athletes will get paid for the Kingston event this month — and for the other meetings by the end of September. Winners of the Grand Slam Track events at each meeting get $100,000 plus large appearance fees.
Sebastian Coe said he still fully supports privately funded athletics events. He said: “It was in everybody’s interest for something like this to be successful. We’re not the ‘computer says no’ command-and-control federation… From the very moment I became president of World Athletics, I talked about the need to be more creative and partner – don’t shy away from forming those relationships. So we were very clear that this had to be done properly and executed properly. Hopefully, [create] an additional attraction in the sport.”
Grand Slam Track cancellation
The last event of the Grand Slam Track (GST), supported by Olympic Champion Michael Johnson, has been cancelled. The final meeting was supposed to take place from June 27 to 29 in Los Angeles.
The cancellation was said to be caused by financial difficulties. Johnson said the organisers will now focus on planning and improving the series next year.
Read more about the Grand Slam Track cancellation event here.
