Everyone knows Michael Johnson, one of many best athletes within the historical past of observe and subject and sports activities normally.
Simply as a reminder, he gained 4 Olympic gold medals (within the 200m, 400m and 4x400m) and eight World Championships gold medals (in the identical disciplines).
He set a 200m World Report in 1996 that may take Usain Bolt 14 years to interrupt. Wayde van Niekerk took nearly 17 years to interrupt Johnson’s 200m file.
Michael has been concerned with observe and subject a very long time since he stopped being a aggressive athlete. Since 2001 he’s a pundit for the BBC, the place he covers a wide range of observe and subject occasions, together with the Olympics.
Pre-announcing a brand new observe league
Again in February, Michael Johnson introduced this on his social media:
BIG issues coming to skilled observe & subject!!! https://t.co/NVTfI6tVfw pic.twitter.com/yZjVnBjyxM
— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) February 27, 2024
“Simply wished to let you understand about mynew observe enterprise. I teamed up with some nice companions and collectively we’re making the most important funding ever into skilled observe and subject, to construct an expert, really fans-focused league that can unlock essentially the most worth for the most effective observe and subject athletes on this planet.”
He then linked to an article on Sportico with extra particulars.
The promise
This February announcement got here with some details about the brand new league, however not all the pieces. These have been the details:
- Monitor and Area has a really massive following, however solely throughout occasions such because the Olympics and the World Championships;
- Followers wrestle to comply with their favourite athletes due to irregular TV protection;
- Athletes face monetary difficulties to maintain their careers;
- Winners Alliance is the companion on this enterprise, already making the biggest funding in observe and subject historical past (in April we discovered this determine to be $30M);
- They’ll create a brand new league in 2025;
- The league can have a format that’s TV and fan pleasant;
- It’ll give attention to the athletes, making an attempt to raise their standing globally;
- It’ll have good prizes for the winners.
Within the meantime
Within the meantime, Johnson has used his social media to highlights a number of the points the athletes (and observe and subject as a sport) are dealing with within the present state of affairs.
He’s additionally been sharing messages from different protagonists of the sports activities who are also anxious for the state of observe and subject.
There’s this interview with Usain Bolt, the place he says “observe and subject wants the eye as a result of I believe our sport goes below the radar.”
“Monitor and subject wants the eye as a result of I believe our sport goes below the radar.”
An interview with @usainbolt in Jamaica 🇯🇲
💬 Why observe and subject must evolve and there must be a change of surroundings
⚡️ Praises @LylesNoah on making an attempt to do various things and recommendation… pic.twitter.com/nhFt3aLzh9
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 22, 2024
Or when he retweeted Noah Lyles, asking “I haven’t seen one business for the Monitor & Area Olympic trials. Is it simply me?”.
I haven’t see one business for the T&F Olympic trials. Is that simply me?
— Noah Lyles, OLY (@LylesNoah) March 29, 2024
One other factor that occurred on this time, is World Athletics declaring, in April, that they may supply $50k per gold medal gained in Paris, and it’s planning to increase prize cash to silver and bronze beginning on the LA 2028 sport.
Lastly, enter the Grand Slam Monitor
Michael Johnson has lastly revealed the main points of the brand new league – referred to as Grand Slam Monitor – this week.
That is the way it will work.
- The league can have 4 meets, referred to as “Slams”.
- 2 Slams can be within the US, 2 elsewhere.
- There can be 96 athletes concerned in every Slam.
- Grand Slam Monitor (GST) will contract 48 athletes as “core racers”.
- The Core Racers will obtain an annual base compensation from the League and clearly can be competing for prize cash.
- The opposite 48 athletes can be chosen occasion by occasion primarily based on latest efficiency and fascinating matchups. They’re referred to as “Challengers”.
- Challengers will obtain an look charge for every Slam they take part in, plus are eligible to win the total prize cash.
What occasions can be within the Grand Slam Monitor?
Let’s now take a look at the occasion classes:
- Quick sprints – 100m / 200m
- Quick hurdles – 100m hurdles (F) or 110m hurdles (M) / 100 meters
- Lengthy sprints – 200m / 400m
- Lengthy hurdles – 400m hurdles / 400m
- Quick distance – 800m / 1500m
- Lengthy distance – 3000m/5000m
As you discover, there are not any subject occasions (no leaping, no throwing). We’ll come again to this later.
Every athlete will compete (over 2 days) within the two races of their occasion class.
So when you race the 100m, you additionally race the 200m. For those who race the 400 hurdles, you additionally run the 400 flat.
That is the half I’m not so certain about. However positively it’s an innovation.
The ultimate placement for the Slam would be the sum of the factors achieved in every of their two races. Factors are assigned as follows:
- First place – 10 factors
- Second place – 8 factors
- Third place – 6 factors
- Fourth place – 5 factors
- Fifth place – 4 factors
- Sixth place – 3 factors
- Seventh place – 2 factors
- Eighth place – 1 level
In case of a tie, the whole time of the 2 races mixed counts, and (you guessed it) the quickest one wins.
What about prize cash?
The winner of every Slam class will earn $100,000. That’s actually an order of magnitude larger than what the Diamond League provides their winners: $10,000.
Every Slam is impartial and doesn’t carry over factors or instances or placements to successive Slam occasions.
No subject occasions in any respect
Michael Johnson has been requested about it, and his reasoning is obvious.
There must be one occasion at a time, with all the eye going to it. Presently, subject occasions happen concurrently the observe occasions, and solely highlights or the very ultimate levels of a race are actually proven to viewers.
For the reason that Grand Slam Monitor is supposed to be a 2:30 – 3 hour occasion, there is no such thing as a time to give attention to leaping and throwing.
This has the potential to be massive
Other than the Olympics, World Championships and regional Championships (such because the European Championships that simply concluded final week), the most important observe and subject stars compete every year within the Diamond League.
The difficulty with the Diamond League is that not each “champion” participates in all occasions. There’ll at all times be massive names collaborating, however very not often there can be actual aggressive match-ups.
By contracting (probably) the 4 greatest athletes in every occasion class, followers know that every of the Slams can have 4 of the most effective competing in opposition to one another – in a contest for actual cash, the place outcomes rely. Plus 4 different elite athletes chosen for every occasion.
Grand Slam Monitor remains to be in search of streaming or broadcasting companions. Or if they’ve discovered them already, they haven’t introduced it.
Every “day” of a Slam can be two and a half to a few hours lengthy.
Different fascinating issues
– No pacers or tempo lights. It’s in regards to the competitors, not the instances.
– No bibs, no security pins!
– Racers can have their very own sponsored package – not their nationwide or their membership package. That is extraordinarily fascinating for the sponsor.
Personally, as an enormous observe fan, I stay up for these Slams. I imagine the important thing would be the potential to certainly join the athletes that folks need to watch, for the rivalries that make this sport nice.
I’m unhappy to see no subject occasion included – however I imagine if this enterprise is profitable, each for the athletes, the followers and the league, perhaps new Slams may be created or perhaps a league for then (Grand Slam Area? You’re welcome Michael Johnson).
Are you a observe fan? What do you consider the Grand Slam Monitor?
https://www.runningshoesguru.com/content material/grand-slam-track-michael-johnsons-new-track-league/
