Champs’ fastest runners to compete at inaugural Grand Slam Track
THE eight fastest girls and eight fastest boys from the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, across all age groups in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, are to be invited to compete in exhibition races over those distances during the inaugural Grand Slam Track (GST) at the National Stadium in Kingston from April 4-6, 2025.
The collaboration involves Grand Slam Track, the global professional track competition launched by four-time Olympic Games champion Michael Johnson, and the ISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Championships.
The Boys’ and Girls’ Championships began on Tuesday and is to end on Saturday. The event is recognised worldwide as an incredible spectacle of excitement, energy, and high-calibre competition.
In a press release, GST said the ISSA boys and girls who are invited to attend will compete on Saturday’s second day of the Grand Slam Track meet, in advance of the professional races at National Stadium. They will experience the same race protocols, equipment, and event presentation show as Grand Slam Track competitors. It said ISSA will serve as the race promoter, finalising the list of invitees to create the fastest fields based on performances at the 2025 Champs.
Track fans who attend the Kingston leg of Grand Slam Track will see the fastest professional track competitors in the world plus the fastest Jamaican high school athletes, fresh off their successes at Champs.
A total of 17 Jamaicans are down to perform at the inaugural Grand Slam Track on the newly renovated track at the National Stadium. The list of Jamaicans comprises Oblique Seville, Hansle Parchment, Alana Reid, Ackera Nugent, Kemba Nelson, Stacy-Ann Williams, Rushell Clayton, Nickisha Pryce, Shiann Salmon, Andrenette Knight, Danielle Williams, Natoya Goule-Toppin, Roshawn Clarke, Malik James-King, Ackeem Blake, Deandre Watkins and Orlando Bennett.