Michael Johnson says Grand Slam Track athletes have now been paid
Michael Johnson has said athletes contracted to Grand Slam Track have now been paid after the series filed for bankruptcy in the United States following the cancellation of its final Los Angeles event, in comments published on Saturday.
Johnson, a four-time Olympic champion who founded Grand Slam Track in 2024, spoke publicly for the first time since the league collapsed and clarified how outstanding payments were handled. The competition's inaugural season last year promised prize money and salaries to contracted runners, but organisers cancelled the Los Angeles finale and voluntarily filed for bankruptcy in the US in December 2025. Several high-profile competitors were reported to be owed sums in excess of £100,000, including Josh Kerr and Matthew Hudson-Smith.
The Association of Athletics Managers said in January that GST had debts of more than $30m (£22.5m). In March 2026 a legal filing by GST's creditors accused Johnson of "secretly" paying himself $500,000 (£375,000) days before the season collapsed, a claim a GST representative said at the time was "unfounded and false".
Johnson told The Telegraph he had "got the athletes paid" and blamed a "catastrophic capital issue" after investors pulled out. "I'm happy to clear it up, because it's the most hurtful thing and the exact opposite of what was reported," he said, addressing the accusations about payments made shortly before the collapse.
He described using personal funds to cover immediate travel and accommodation needs for the tour: "Our credit card was full at Grand Slam Track, because we were facing significant cash-flow issues. "We had 96 athletes, plus companions, whom we needed to fly to Miami and Philadelphia. We had 170 people to house in hotels in both cities, and the credit card had no room left. "I instructed our travel team to put it on my credit card, and I would be reimbursed for it. So, what I received was reimbursement."
Johnson also told The Telegraph: "I also loaned the company $2m to make sure we took care of the athletes. I decided to forgo my own salary." He said in March he would repay the $500,000 to GST. "I definitely had nights where I didn't sleep, where I would be awake thinking: 'This is on me. This headline just came out - do the athletes believe that?'," he added.
Johnson has been a pundit and commentator for the BBC since 2001 but has not worked for the broadcaster since the Paris 2024 Olympics as he focused his attention on GST.
The Telegraph interview published on Saturday was Johnson's first public statement since Grand Slam Track went bankrupt, in which he set out his account of how payments to athletes were resolved.