Michael Johnson has admitted the fallout from Grand Slam Track (GST) was “the most stress” he had faced for a long time and clarified the financial situation after its controversial demise, including an alleged “secret” payment to himself.
The four-time Olympic champion was at the heart of the league, which had its inaugural season in 2025 with meets in Kingston, Jamaica and in the US cities of Miami and Philadelphia.
The inaugural event in Kingston was in front of a barely third-full stadium, while the fourth and final meet scheduled in Los Angeles in June was cancelled and Grand Slam Track filed for bankruptcy in December 2025.
In March 2026, a legal filing by GST’s creditors accused Johnson of “secretly” paying himself $500,000 (£370,000) days before the season collapsed, a claim a GST representative said at the time was “unfounded and false”.
Johnson clarified the payment in an interview with The Telegraph, saying: “I’m happy to clear it up, because it’s the most hurtful thing and the exact opposite of what was reported.
“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. I also loaned the company 2m dollars (£1.5m) to make sure we took care of the athletes. I decided to forgo my own salary.”
Speaking about the stress surrounding the event’s breakdown, Johnson added: “It was 10 (out of 10). In Olympic sprinting, you have to deliver your best performance in seconds, and you get one opportunity every four years – there’s probably nothing more stressful than that. But this was the most stress I had dealt with in a very long time.
“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?’ Those things weighed on me very heavily, and on my family as well.
“I was asking myself, ‘Are you stupid? Why did you do this? This is not what you need’.”
Johnson was a staple of the BBC’s athletics coverage for many years, and an incredibly popular pundit. He has not worked for the corporation since Grand Slam Track began but suggests there is a chance he could work for them again in the future.
“We’ll see where I am next year,” said Johnson. “It has been 22 years that I’ve worked for the BBC, and I love it. We’re in constant conversation about the future.”
Additional reporting by PA
