Michael Johnson reacts to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's photoshoot for Grand Slam Track

Michael Johnson hailed Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as the latter flipped her hair for a Grand Slam Track photoshoot ahead of the event's commencement in April 2025. The GST signed the 400m hurdles world record holder as the first racer among the 29 participants.

McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400m hurdles title and broke her world record at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The first woman to clock sub-52s and sub-51s in the 400m hurdles repeated the feat at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning her second consecutive title in a world-record-breaking time of 50.37s. The New Jersey native also competed in the 4x400m relay, anchoring the US team to the gold in an American-record-breaking time of 3:15.27.

In June 2024, the four-time Olympic gold medalist graced the Grand Slam Track League's list of athletes as the first racer. In an X post by Grand Slam Track on October 23, 2024, the 24-year-old flipped her hair and posed in beige athletic wear in a set designed like the running track. GST's post caption read.

"This shot is going to be INSANE."

Michael Johnson, the host of the Track League, hailed the 400m hurdler and wrote:

"Bringing that Grand Slam swagger!"

After announcing the league's launch, the World gold medalist shared that Grand Slam Track would work towards keeping the sport in the forefront and offer a platform for the top-tier athletes to get the exposure they 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." (via CITIUS Mag)

The racers will take the track in four Slams per year and compete in two events per Slam. A whopping amount of $100,000 was announced as the winner's prize money.

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Michael Johnson - "Keep telling myself this is not a dream!"

Michael Johnson after his 200m race at the Olympic Games; (Source: Getty)

After Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 29 other athletes were added to the GST roster; 18 more are supposed to join them. Michael Johnson took to his X to express the unreal success rate of the GST preparation so far, writing:

"Keep telling myself this is not a dream!" his caption read.

In another X post from October 22, 2024, Grand Slam Track offered a glimpse of the Racers Summit arrangements in Santa Monica, California. In response to the video, Johnson wrote:

"Getting ready! Big things happening this week."

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's 4x400m relay squad member, Shamier Little also signed with the league recently.