Danielle Williams (right) wins the women's 100m race during Grand Slam Track at the National Stadium on Sunday, April 6, 2025. Also pictured are Ackera Nugent (left) and Tia Jones. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
‘PHENOMENAL’
Grand Slam Track president pleased with debut in Jamaica
PRESIDENT of Grand Slam Track Steve Gera says he was impressed with the support and energy of Jamaican fans inside the National Stadium over the three days of the series and hopes that the groundbreaking competition will return to the island.
Gera, speaking to the Jamaica Observer after the final day of competition on Sunday, says that while there is a need to fully assess the execution of the Kingston leg of the competition, he is looking forward to its potential return to Jamaica, pointing to the atmosphere generated during the inaugural staging as a major positive.
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“Things went great and I am really excited about the future of the league,” said Gera.
“This was an amazing place to start. The crowd really showed out as far as cheering on for the track athletes. It was amazing, it was absolutely electric. We’re just really excited about the entire week and everything that we experienced here in Kingston,” Gera added.
Grand Slam Track, a new professional circuit for track athletes, was first announced by American sprinting great Michael Johnson, the four-time Olympic champion and former world record holder.
The series, which made its debut in Jamaica, will now move to Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles this season. It features some of the biggest names in the sport competing in two complementary events over a weekend in a points-based system. Every event category winner walks away with US$100,000 at each Grand Slam, in what is described as the richest prize pool in athletics.
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“You always hope that the way you think about things is the exact same way that fans are going to think about things — I know that’s what we did. The vision that we had for this was somewhat controversial but Michael, from the very beginning, was laser-focused on giving the fans what they want. We feel really validated by the fact that across social, across broadcast, across the world, people are really energised by the format, and really get it and understand it,” Gera shared.
“We have work to do there still, we’ll explain it better to people as we kind of go through this, but some of the races were absolutely phenomenal because of the stakes that were associated with the groupings. So, I am really happy with the way that the world so far embraced the format,” he said.
Danielle Williams was the only Jamaican Grand Slam Track winner at the opening staging, with the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Kenny Bednarek, Gabby Thomas, Alison Dos Santos and Diribe Welteji being among those who earned the US$100,000 bonanza.
Gera noted that while the size of the crowd at the National Stadium over the three days left a lot to be desired, there was no shortage of “vibes” among the Jamaican fans.
“So we’re still evaluating exactly what we want to do and what we want to change, and we’re always open to that, you know? There’s definitely some things — as far as like a pre-game show and post-game show — that I think we’re going to start doing for fans in the next couple venues that we’ll end up diving into but, overall, I’m just really, really happy with the way everything went. And most of the changes that we’ll make this season will probably just be tweaks here and there,” said Gera.
“I wouldn’t say I am disappointed with the overall turnout; I know there’s all sorts of reasons why people do and don’t come to events. I was really excited about the energy and the crowd while they were here in the stadium. The grandstand was absolutely phenomenal, and the bleachers [on Saturday] were absolutely phenomenal. So listen, I think we are really happy with the way everything went, I’m really happy with the way that Jamaica showed out, and we’re excited to, you know, get back here,” Gera noted.
Sasha Zhoya celebrates victory in the men’s 100m during Grand Slam Track at Jamaica’s National Stadium on Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
