Michael Johnson Says 'We're Getting There' As He Assesses First Weekend Of Grand Slam Track

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photo courtesy @GrandSlamTrack

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone dominated. Grant Fisher calculated.

Both American runners were among eight champions determined in the climactic day 3 of the inaugural Grand Slam Track series at Kingston, Jamaica. 

Scoring was 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 per race. In each of six event groups, the runner with the most cumulative points earns the $100,000 first prize. Second is worth $50,000, down to $10,000 for eighth.

A total of 12 champions (four from Saturday) earned a total of $1.2 million on the weekend.

Attendance was so poor that schoolkids were allowed free entry Saturday and Sunday. However, the meet featured match-ups that otherwise would not have occurred. Fans who did attend were noisy and engaged.

“The real validation is when the fans go, ‘This was great,’ “ said Michael Johnson, creator of the pro league.

Remaining meets are in Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

“I’ve always thought this sport hasn’t achieved its potential,” Johnson said. “We still aren’t there, but we’re getting there.”

McLaughlin-Levrone, one of the faces of the league, won the 400 meters by nearly two seconds in 50.32. She was much slower than Salwa Eid Naser’s time of 48.67 Saturday – fastest ever run before July – but Sunday’s 400 was inhibited by wind.

“I felt like I was going backward,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.

Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight was second in 52.09 and Dalilah Muhammad third in 52.21. Muhammad, 35, who twice set world records in 2019 in beating McLaughlin-Levrone, announced Thursday this would be her final season.

McLaughlin-Levrone won Friday’s 400 hurdles in 52.76, best ever for April. So she came away with the maximum 24 points in long hurdles. Muhammad was second.

McLaughlin-Levrone said she signed up for the series to help make the sport “really professional.” In future slams, she said, she might race long sprints (100 and 200 meters) or short hurdles (100 meters and 100m hurdles). She didn’t commit to 400 hurdles or the flat 400 for September’s World Championships at Tokyo.

“I’m selective in my racing, but that’s for a reason,” she said. “I think you have to be wise in how you set up your season. It’s not that I don’t race a lot. It’s that I race wisely.”

The men’s 3,000 meters turned tactical not at the front, but at the back.

Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet built a lead approaching 100 meters and finished first in 7:51.55. Countryman Telehun Haile Bekele was second in 8:00.68.

Fisher, winner of Friday’s 5,000, ran the last 200 in 25.6 to finish third in 8:03.85 and clinch the slam over Gebrhiwet, 18-17. The Stanford graduate compared his mid-race thinking to a meme in which a woman was working on the Pythagorean theorem.

“I was like, I swear, ‘If I get third, I have it wrapped up,’ “ he said. “And that’s what it felt like I had the highest percentage of winning.”

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Olympic gold medalist at 800 meters, won the short distances off his surprise Saturday win at 1,500.

Fighting winds up to 18 mph, Canada’s Marco Arop won Sunday’s 800 in 1:45.13 over Wanyonyi and reversed their finish from Paris. Wanyonyi's time was 1:46.44.

Bryce Hoppel, fourth at Paris, was third in 1:47.02. Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, gold and bronze medalists in the Paris 1,500, were fifth in 1:48.02 and sixth in 1:48.16, respectively.

“This early in the season you’re already seeing incredible performances,” Arop said. “I’m really excited about the next slam.”

Wanyonyi scored 20 points, Arop 15 and Nuguse 11.

Jefferson-Wooden sweeps 100 and 200 over Prandini

In other event groups:

>> Women’s short sprints: Top three in the 200 were identical to the 100, with another 1-2-3 American sweep led by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. She came from behind and clocked 23.46 into a headwind (-4.7). Jenna Prandini was second in 23.56 and Jacious Sears third in 23.79.

>> Women’s short hurdles: Danielle Williams, after finishing second in Saturday’s 100 hurdles, won the 100 meters in 11.54 into a headwind (-3.4). The 32-year-old Jamaican, a two-time world champion, scored 20 points to Tia Jones’ 15. Jones coasted into sixth in 12.26 but earned the $50,000 second-place prize because she won the hurdles. Ackera Nugent, another Jamaican, was second in the 100 in 11.57.

>> Women’s long distance: Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye completed a sweep by winning the 5,000 in a world-leading 14:54.88. Kenyan road specialist Agnes Jebet Ngetich was second, as she was in the 3,000, in 14:59.80. Top American was late addition Emily Infeld, fourth in 15:26.87.

>> Men’s short hurdles: Sasha Zhoya won the 100 meters in 10.55 (-2.0 wind) to take the slam with 20 points. The 22-year-old Frenchman raised his arm and pointed a finger to signal No. 1 as he crossed the finish. It was a welcome second-place 18 points for unsponsored Dylan Beard, who works at a Walmart. Beard had won Saturday’s 110 hurdles. Cordell Tinch was second in the 100 in 10.65 and Beard third in 10.67.

>> Men’s long hurdles: Brazil’s Alison dos Santos charged late to win the 400 meters in 45.52 for a perfect 24 points. The two-time Olympic bronze medalist ran a world-leading 47.61 Friday in the hurdles. Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke was second with 13 points after placing fourth in the 400 in 45.73. Chris Robinson was second in the 400 in a PB 45.54.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.