For decades, track and field has been a sport of breathtaking speed but frustrating stagnation. The calendar is rigid. The biggest stars race for minutes, then vanish for weeks. Change? It rarely comes. But Michael Johnson, a man who shattered records and expectations, is now trying to disrupt the sport. His Grand Slam Track League (GST) is trying to put athletes first, bringing together nearly 48 of the world’s best, including 36 Paris Olympic medal winners. But still, not everyone is sold on the idea!
Noah Lyles, the track’s one of the biggest showmen, has questioned GST’s sustainability, sharing the doubts that greeted other new leagues. But Johnson, unfazed, believes resistance is inevitable but not permanent. Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, has made world records with his signature upright form. His 19.32-second 200m run in Atlanta? A record that stood for 12 years. His 43.18-second 400m? Now, he’s taking on a different kind of race—one against tradition.
With $30 million in funding and a $12.6 million prize pool, GSTL has attracted 48 athletes, including Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Fred Kerley, Gabby Thomas, and Devon Allen. The league’s one of the aims to address athlete underpayment, offering $100,000 to first-place winners.
However, the initiative has faced skepticism. “Yeah, I mean, obviously, you’re going to always have some resistance,” Johnson said in an Athletics Weekly interview on February 18, as posted on X. “But, you know, the fact that we got 40—the main thing, again, the biggest challenge is always going to be getting athletes to commit to this. And, you know, we got our 48 athletes, our 48 racers, signed very quickly, relatively quickly anyway, and got some of the fastest people in the world—Olympic champions, world champions. About 48 racers, 36 won medals in Paris….”
“The athletes need a platform that allows them to connect with the fans and give them what they want and that’s what Grand Slam Track is doing.”
In our February magazine @MJGold opens up about his ambitions for @GrandSlamTrack and why he thinks it can bring the change that… pic.twitter.com/dgKs8e4Fxb
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) February 18, 2025
GST has offered to break away from a sport deeply set in its ways with a rigid and set competition leading to the Olympics, and Johnson knows how deeply ingrained the current system is. “You’re certainly going to get some resistance when you’ve had a system that’s been around for as long as this system for track and field has been around,” he explained. “People get used to it, you know, you get comfortable in that system, you figure out how to navigate the system the way that it is….” he said.
That comfort is precisely what GST seeks to disrupt. And it’s already attracting some of the biggest names in the sport, but one name remains conspicuously absent, which is Noah Lyles. But something has changed; will Lyles budge?
Michael Johnson’s Game-Changing Move, Will Noah Lyles Finally Buy In?
Noah Lyles has never been shy about speaking his mind. While Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track League (GSTL) drew attention for its star-studded roster and prize money, Lyles saw a crucial gap, which was visibility. What good is an ambitious track league if no one is watching?
“Grand Slam Track is still in the same position [with me] as it has been all year,” Lyles said in an interview with LetsRun.com. “Being the Olympic champion, I’ve already come in with a lot of accolades and a lot of things where I don’t need monetary value, but I really need marketing value,” Lyles told LetsRun.com in November.
But now, something has changed!
Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track League (GSTL) has made a game-changing media deal with Peacock, which will stream every race live and The CW will broadcast the weekend events in all four meets of the 2025 season. This is a huge step in Johnson’s mission to keep track visible beyond the Olympic years.
The deal puts GSTL on multiple platforms. Peacock’s streaming model is for a younger, digitally-savvy audience and The CW’s national reach puts elite sprinting, hurdles, and middle-distance racing in front of millions on free-to-air TV. A sport that struggles to get mainstream exposure outside of the Olympics and World Championships, could be a game-changer.
Unlike traditional track meets that focus on individual times, GSTL focuses on head-to-head competition. Athletes will race twice a weekend, with places—not times—determining the winner in each group. This format, now with national TV coverage, could make track more exciting for casual fans
Will Noah Lyles reconsider? Will he jump or will he let the moment pass? Johnson has laid the track. The starting gun is loaded. Now the question is Will Lyles run? While Lyles remains undecided, others have committed, including Yared Nuguse. Fresh off breaking the indoor world record in the Wanamaker Mile at the 2025 Millrose Games with a time of 3:46.63, Nuguse will compete in GSTL’s inaugural season, stepping outside his usual distance to race in the 800m.
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