HERE’S THIS MONTH’S collection of short takes on generally off-track activities that have gone/will go a long way towards shaping the way the sport is headed.
Track League Gets Slammed
“The world is looking for someone like this,” said Michael Johnson when he announced his Grand Slam Track league in June of ’24. He added that athletes had been seeking a new business model, noting that they had been “frustrated… where they’re not compensated and recognized for their tremendous talent.”
Now Johnson admits that the withdrawal of a major investor has created the league’s current crisis, with unpaid stadium fees as well as unpaid athletes. Cory Mull of Forbes reported in mid-July that GST still hasn’t paid the $77,896 it owes for renting the Miramar facility for its Miami Slam in early May.
Reuters has reported that GST owes athletes about $13M in total. So far the only reported payments are the appearance fees for the first Slam in Jamaica. No prize money has been paid yet, and appearance fees for Miami and Philadelphia are also delinquent.
An e-mail sent by GST to agents at the time said, “Our plan is to make payments for Kingston prize money before the end of July and the remaining payments due by the end of September, which includes the honoring of Los Angeles appearance fees.”
GST missed the July deadline, saying, “Grand Slam Track is anticipating investor funds to hit our account imminently, and the athletes are our top priority. Once these funds are received on our end, we will work to immediately process them to the athletes…
“We are in the process of recapitalizing the company, and we are committed to distributing funds to athletes as soon as we receive them.”
Said Johnson, “We’ve been working very hard over the last couple of months to make sure that we can get everyone taken care of and making sure that we can actually get to next season.”
Dallas’s Historical Wealth Of HS Talent
After setting a pair of HSR 800s, Cooper Lutkenhaus (Northwest, Justin, Texas) became a prime prep AOY candidate. But, suggests Greg Riddle of the Dallas Morning News, Lutkenhaus has lots of competition as the Dallas area’s greatest ever. Here’s Riddle’s Top 15, which includes post-prep careers:
1. Michael Johnson (Skyline, Dallas); 2. Jeremy Wariner (Lamar, Arlington); 3. Michelle Carter (Red Oak); 4. Michael Carter (Jefferson, Dallas); 5. Sha’Carri Richardson (Carter, Dallas); 6. Louise Ritter (Red Oak); 7. Chryste Gaines (South Oak Cliff, Dallas); 8. Jasmine Moore (Lake Ridge, Mansfield); 9. Jason Richardson (Cedar Hill); 10. Doc Patton (Lake Highlands); 11. Eddie Southern (Sunset, Dallas); 12. Marquise Goodwin (Rowlett); 13. Roy Martin (Roosevelt, Dallas); 14. Shelbi Vaughan (Legacy, Mansfield); 15. Courtney Okolo (Smith, Carrollton).
Note: this list was generated before Lutkenhaus’s stunning 1:42.27 at USATF; wherever you would have put him on the original list, he has obviously climbed a few spots.
Positive Test For WR Holder Chepngetich
Many of those who doubted Ruth Chepngetich’s stunning sub-2:10 marathon at Chicago in ’24 are now saying “I told you so” as the Kenyan has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a diuretic in her system.
Often used as a masking agent to conceal the presence of steroids, the diuretic HCTZ showed up in Chepngetich’s sample at a high concentration, more than 200 times the WADA threshold. While provisional suspensions are not mandatory for masking agents, Chepngetich voluntarily accepted the suspension on April 19. It was announced by the AIU on July 17.
The sample came from an out-of-competition test on March 14, a few days after her runner-up finish in the Lisbon Half-Marathon. Two days after being informed by the AIU about the positive, Chepngetich withdrew from the London Marathon, saying, “I’m not in the right place mentally or physically to race my best in London.”
Her 2:09:56 WR has already been ratified, and she passed the drug tests that day. That means that it will likely stay in place unless the investigation uncovers evidence indicating drug use at that time.
Track To Be Early At LA28
Track & field and swimming will flip flop their usual positions in the Olympic schedule for the ’28 Games, with our sport going a week earlier and swimming hosting the final medal events of the Games.
The newly-released daily competition schedule shows track & field running July 15–24. The overall window for the Games will be July 14–28. The schedule switch will smooth the logistics around the SoFi Stadium’s cohosting the Opening Ceremony on July 14 and later becoming the first NFL stadium to host Olympic swimming.
Most of the track & field events, of course, will take place in LA Memorial Coliseum.
New USATF Communications Chief
The latest major staff change at the Indianapolis HQ of USATF is the hiring of Jay Holder as Chief Content & Communications Officer.
Holder fills the spot left vacant by the departure of Natalie Uhl. Most recently, he has served as Executive Director of Running USA. He has also been VP of Marketing & Communications for the Atlanta TC. He was Director Of Media for the last two Olympic Marathon Trials.
Said CEO Max Siegel, “Jay brings not only deep expertise in strategic communications and content, but also a lifelong passion for our sport. From grassroots meets to the Olympic stage, he has worked across nearly every level of track & field. Jay has a thorough understanding of our mission.”
Forget The Amateur Ideal
Maybe it’s time to pay all Olympians? That’s what Rich Perelman has suggested in his Sports Examiner newsletter. Given the controversy — one inflamed by Seb Coe last year — over paying Olympic medalists, Perelman points out that currently the Olympic Solidarity Program spent $17 million last year paying Olympic Scholarships for over 2000 athletes.
Perelman points out that paying a $10,000 honorarium to all Olympians (including the Winter Games) would cost $137 million. Paying that amount for an entire Olympiad? “That would cost $548.52 million over 4 years, easily within the IOC’s financial capabilities,” he writes, noting that the IOC’s revenues for ’24 were more than $4.6 billion.
“So, why shouldn’t the IOC pay all of the athletes who make it to the Games? Good question, which many people have been asking for a long time. Truth be told, it might be time now.”
World Champs Back To British Capital?
With the support of the British government to host another World Championships in London’s Olympic Stadium, it is starting to appear as if the Brits are on the fast track to host the ’29 Worlds.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has said he is “delighted to support the bid.”
Said London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, ““I would like to see London become the first city to host the Games four times, and if we have the World Championships in 2029, it means in the leadup there’s energy, enthusiasm and investment in track & field, which means you will have the future Mo Farahs, the future Paula Radcliffes.
“Globally, everyone loves coming to London. And we’ve managed to stage a good event every year in the London Diamond League.” ◻︎
