Top athletes signed to Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track so far ft Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Kenny Bednarek

Along with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Kenny Bednarek, and others, Michael Johnson has selected some quality athletes for his upcoming Grand Slam Track event. This event will take center stage in 2025, and it will execute five events throughout the season.

Track and field legend Michael Johnson came up with the idea of Grand Slam Track after analyzing the marginal salaries of the athletes. His motive is to provide economic stability for the track athletes and a hefty prize pool has been kept for the sprinters, that include $100,000 for the winner. The athletes finishing second and third will receive $50,000 and $30,000, respectively.

Multiple athletes have now been signed for this event; let's have a look into some of the top athletes who are all set to compete in the first edition of the Grand Slam Track.

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#1 Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is one of the first athletes to sign for the Grand Slam Track League. The athlete concluded her Paris Olympics campaign with two gold medals in the 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay. She broke her own world record in the former event, clocking 50.37 seconds in the final.

McLaughlin-Levrone wrapped up her 2024 season after running in the invitational events at the Brussels Diamond League.

#2 Kenny Bednarek

Kenny Bednarek is one of the first male American athletes to sign for the Grand Slam Track League. Bednarek clinched silver in the 200m event at the Paris Olymics after clocking 19.62 seconds in the final. Following this, he finished his season by winning the 200m race at the Brussels Diamond League.

#3 Fred Kerley

Fred Kerley is also among te first male athletes to sign up for the Grand Slam Track by Michael Johnson. Kerley claimed a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics by recording a time of 9.81 seconds in the 100m final, and then wrapped up his season by winning finishing third in the same event at the Brussels Diamond League.

#4 Masai Russell

Masai Russell will compete at the Grand Slam Track in 2025 after having a memorable 2024. She dominated the Paris Olympics with her efficient performance in the 100m hurdles, as she clocked 12.33s to clinch gold. Following this, she performed in the Athlos NYC meet, which was held on September 26. Here, she competed in the 100m hurdles and concluded her season with a bronze medal after posting a time of 12.44s.

Along with these names, there are multiple other top athletes who have been signed for the Grand Slam Track event, such as Quincy Hall, Melissa Jefferson, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse, Josh Kerr, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Cyrena Samba-Mayela, Clement Ducos, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Alison dos Santos, and Muzala Samukonga.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about competing at the Grand Slam Track

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who is all set to compete in the Grand Slam Track League in 2025, recently opened up about her thoughts on the Grand Slam Track in an interview with Citius Mag. Here, she reflected upon competing in two events and spoke about the growth of the sport with the help of this event. She also exuded excitement about being a part of Johnson's event.

"Yeah, I think it'll be fun. Honestly, being able to do two events and kind of just challenge yourself also using some of those as training blocks, I think it's just going to be really cool to see that dynamic and see the sport grow in popularity. So, I'm excited to be a part of that in any way," said Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

Along with this, the 25-year-old also added about competing in the 200m and 400m dashes instead of the 400m and 400m hurdles discipline. Stating the possibility of her double-up in the former two events, she said:

"It's always a possibility absolutely. So, I think yeah that's the exciting thing is I'm blessed with the ability kind of to switch some of these events and do different things and so yeah love challenging myself that's definitely a possible duo right there.”

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone currently holds four Olympic gold medals, two of were bagged in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay during the Tokyo Olympics, and the other two were clinched by her in the same events during the Paris Olympics.