Grand Slam Track launches in Los Angeles with sprint legend Michael Johnson at the helm...

Do you want to see Josh Kerr of Seattle's Brooks Beasts race Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Paul Merca photo) a minimum of four meets a season?

How about Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone against Femke Bol in both the 400 hurdles and the flat 400 over a course of a weekend?

What about Noah Lyles against, oh say, Marcel Jacobs or Ferdinand Omanyala?

As of now, the only racer named that will be in the new Grand Slam Track circuit is Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Paul Merca photo), who was introduced to the public at a press conference Tuesday in Los Angeles as part of Olympic 400 meter champion Michael Johnson's innovative Grand Slam Track, which will tentatively launch its first meet in April 2025.

Grand Slam Track is the premier global professional track league featuring matchups between the fastest stars in the sport. The league will host four annual Slams taking place between April and September, with eight Racers competing in one of 12 event groups.

GST will have one meet in Los Angeles, plus a second in another US city, with two other meets contested overseas. Each meet will be staged over a three day period.

Johnson, who will serve as the league's commissioner, said in a news release, “We are excited to launch this new platform for the planet’s greatest racers in this sport we all love. Our team has worked tirelessly to design and build a product that will be loved by fans and provide opportunities for our racers that they truly deserve.

“We’re revolutionizing the track landscape, allowing our sport to remain at the forefront of the sporting world year round, and pushing our superstar racers to break new ground in their personal storytelling, competitive success, and marketability. Grand Slam Track is going to take our sport to new heights, and we want you to come along for the ride.”

THE RACERS

In the media releases from the league, the one word that you won't see describing the participants is the word "athlete". 

Says Johnson: “A word that is almost never used in track anymore, that we will always use, is ‘racing.’ We have racers; we don’t have athletes. And we race. That’s what we do. When you get on the track, you’re racing the other racers. You’re not ‘executing your strategy,’ or all the other stuff we say in the sport now. It’s almost like we deliberately try to avoid saying that they’re racing. You’re missing the whole point of this, which is: Who f----- won?”

In addition to McLaughlin-Levrone, GST plans to sign 47 other racers to contracts, then use appearance fees to bring in another group of 48 "Challengers".

Like McLaughlin-Levrone, the GST Racers sign a contract with the league to run in all four meets. They get access to the GST content and data services team, inclusion in the league collective, group licensing and new revenue opportunities, plus access to world class athlete support services throughout the season.

They are obligated to race and promote the league through media availability, public appearances and other related activities, while getting additional marketing and branding support.

The Grand Slam Track Racing Committee will choose the remaining 48 Racers, who will be known as the GST Challengers. They will receive a set appearance fee to compete at individual Slams, and are chosen based on several factors, including recent performances, plus the most intriguing athletes and matchups.

Note that there are no field events in the initial offering of Grand Slam Track, as the league wants to focus on storytelling that can be aired during a 3-hour TV window.

THE FORMAT

There are six event groups that will compete in each meet: Short Sprints (100/200); Short Hurdles (100/110H & 100 flat); Long Sprints (200/400); Long Hurdles (400H/400 flat); Short Distance (800/1500) and Long Distance (3000/5000).

In each of the four meets, the racers get points based on their finish place with 10 for first place, followed by 8-6-5-4-3-2-1. The racer who picks up the most points after completion of both events wins that Slam meet, which pays $100,000 all the way down to $10,000 for eighth place.

All racers will compete twice over the three-day event, and all Slam events will meet World Athletics regulations, with achieved marks being eligible for rankings and standards.

WHERE'S THE MONEY COMING FROM?

Johnson's GST is funded by investors, led by Winners Alliance, which negotiates commercial opportunities that maximize the amount of money being paid to athletes in exchange for their collective name, image and likeness power. Johnson has at least $30 million in capital from investors to launch the league.

GST currently doesn't have backing from any of the major athletic shoe companies, but they are stakeholders in promoting its racers.

You can watch the official unveiling of the league here:

Here's a PDF that you can download with key information on Grand Slam Track:

GST KeyInfo Digital Grand Slam Track by paulmerca70601 on Scribd

You can follow Grand Slam Track on its social media platforms @GrandSlamTrack, or you can read more about the league at grandslamtrack.com .

NOTE: Grand Slam Track contributed to this report.

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