We’re finally outdoors, after spending the winter undercover. Don’t get me wrong, the championship portion of indoors was fun to watch, but at the end of the day nothing compares to the 400m oval! Of course it’s still a very long season, especially with the World Championships being moved to September. Shifting national championships to the beginning of August and literally changing how many athletes will approach both training and competition over the course of the year. What does this all mean? It means we may not see many top level athletes get started in their primary events until late May or early June, and marks may not be at “elite” levels until then either. However.
Enter Grand Slam Track(GST), the fledgling child of Michael Johnson. GST’s series of four meets began this past weekend and will run thru May. Yes, the early part of the year. With $100K on the line for each running group in each meet, the incentive is there to produce serious competition. So, how was meet number one, which was held in Kingston Jamaica? I’ll give you my thoughts. First however, let’s talk about the set up. Each competitor runs in a group, short sprints, long sprints, short hurdles, long hurdles, short distance, long distance. Each group competes twice, 100m/200m, 200m/400m, 110H/100m, etc. One race one, day, the other distance another day. There were three days of competition with eight races contested each day. Each finishing spot is awarded points. Most points at the end of the meet in each category wins money. 100K for first down to I believe 10K for eighth. Easily the top prize money in the sport, and I must admit, it showed! So, where to begin. I’ll start with my experience as a fan.
The telecast was very good visually. Some great camera angles and graphics. I would like to see others pick up on some of the graphics. Like listing athletes social media along with their other information during event introductions. Watching was fun from that perspective. However, there was dead time between events that could have been better used. Lots of “dead air” with nothing being said, or at least audibly being heard. It would have been great to have field events as they are continuous during the competition and great at giving fans something else to focus on. They also brought some new faces to the screen, which I found refreshing. Was nice not having Dwight Stones or Dan O’Brien both of whom are often wrong with most of their information. By that same logic however, I was surprised to see Sanya Richards Ross who is equally as bad. Finally, there is the three day format, which I felt was a day too many. I’m sure it also made it difficult for those watching in person to set aside three days for three hours each day. I didn’t mind the three hours other than the dead air, and just as I got into a rhythm, they started at a different time on day three.
The meat and potatoes however is the competition, and to be honest I was mixed. The distance events were hot. Some pretty elite level athletes going at it for $100K – as it’s supposed to be! Most resulting in great finishes, with day one races setting up highly anticipated races on day two! The speed events were lacking a bit for me however. Sydney had zero competition in the 400H/400m group, as the 200m/400m group clearly had the better athletes – especially in the 400m! Perhaps the race of the weekend with Salwa Eid Naser (48.67), Gabby Thomas (49.14), and Marileidy Paulino (49,35) in one of the fastest quarters of any season. This is what I think MJ had in mind when dreaming about GST. As for the men however, there were just too many high level sprinters missing for me to get excited about Kenny Bednarek’s dominating wins. No Noah, no Tebogo, no Erriyon, no Kishane, no Jacobs, you get my point. Similar in the men’s hurdles. Similar in the women’s short sprints. No matter MJ’s rhetoric, you can only do without so many Sha’Carri’s, Shericka’s, and Julien’s on top of the missing men. Given the breath of who was missing, it’s hard for me to take, the phrase “only the fastest” seriously.
That said, there were more “stars” than your “average” international meet, without the word “championship” in the title – and that’s a good thing. And I failed to say that the marketing has been first class! The was more pre meet marketing for GST Kingston than I’ve ever seen for a World Championships event! That and the fact that folk got paid, makes meet one a success for me. At least in terms of a first attempt. The sport needs more meets like this and last year’s Athlos meet – which I hear is being held again this year in order to grow and truly become successful.
The status quo is not enough. The athletes need much better earning potential than has existed. On the one hand, we need to see more of our top athletes, because at the end of the day sports are about the athletes. Which is why I’ve railed against World Athletics constant attempts to change the events themselves. Nothing you do to the events matters if you don’t get the athletes competing! From the athletes perspective, in most cases they need the financial incentive to compete. From that aspect, MJ and GST are spot on. So, I’m looking forward to the next GST competition in Philadelphia at the beginning of May to see if we get more top level athletes, and to see who can turn the tables from Kingston. I do think GST is on its way. Let’s see how things improve between now and LA.
Tags: Grand Slam Track
