Diamond League founder has harsh words for Grand Slam Track

Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson’s new athletics league, Grand Slam Track, held its inaugural meet last weekend in Kingston, Jamaica. While there were some highlights during the three-day event, criticism of the concept and its long-term viability overshadowed its debut. Former Diamond League founder Patrick Magyar even took to social media to label Johnson’s project as “Grand Flop Track.”

The concept of Grand Slam Track aims to bring Olympic-style excitement to the sport multiple times a year, similar to majors in tennis and golf. The league features a roster of 48 racers and 48 challengers competing across four meets, with significant prize money at stake in each of the six event categories.

However, Magyar was quick to point out the shortcomings after the event’s opening day, stating: “It took just one competition day for the much-hyped Grand Slam Track series to prove it’s not the future of track and field – it’s a flop. In fact, ‘Grand Flop Track’ might be a more accurate name. Billed as the sport’s bold new direction by Michael Johnson, the series revealed its true face on day one in Kingston, Jamaica: an atmosphere closer to a mausoleum than a laboratory of innovation.”

He continued, criticizing the meet as “boring, lifeless, with long stretches of inactivity and—perhaps most telling—an empty stadium in Kingston, the capital of one of the world’s greatest track and field nations.” While Magyar acknowledged his potential bias as a key figure behind the Diamond League, where he served as vice-president and director of the prestigious Weltklasse Zürich meet in Switzerland, he argued the stats speak for themselves.

Magyar believes the Diamond League has been successful since its 2010 launch due to the league’s ability to present fans with a complete version of track and field within a two-hour televised window. “You can’t eliminate half the sport just to fit someone’s narrow idea of what sells,” he writes. Ticket sales for the Diamond League’s 2025 season have already begun, with several European meets reportedly reaching half-capacity or selling out entirely.

A local Jamaican sports journalist also questioned the feasibility of the new series. Leighton Levy, an athletics expert with The Sports Examiner, described the weekend as “a hit with performances and a miss with the crowd.”

Levy said he believes several factors contributed to the low attendance. “For example, Sunday at noon, most Jamaicans are focused on dinner plans, not attending a track meet. And on Friday, when the meet started at 5:30 p.m., people were stuck in gridlock traffic after leaving work,” said Levy. He also pointed to a lack of understanding of Jamaican culture from GST and how most locals could not afford the ticket prices.

Another major drawback was the absence of star athletes like Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson and Kishane Thompson and American Noah Lyles, all fan favourites. Their non-participation diminished the event’s appeal, especially in a country known for track and field.

Johnson, the founder of Grand Slam Track, took to social media following the weekend to admit, “We got some things right and some things wrong, but we’re committed to improving with each event.” He invited fans to share suggestions for the league, tweeting: “What can GST do over the season to make it better?” The tweet garnered over 500 replies, with many echoing Magyar and Levy’s critiques, such as reducing downtime between events and boosting efforts to fill the stands.

What can we do over the season to make @GrandSlamTrack better?

— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) April 8, 2025

The next Grand Slam Track meet will take place from May 2-4 at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla., a venue with a capacity of only 5,000. However, the Philadelphia event later in May at Franklin Field will pose another attendance challenge, as it seats more than 50,000 fans at full capacity.