1 week ago
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MICHAEL JOHNSON, founder of Grand Slam Track (GST), said despite the less-than-expected number of fans at the National Stadium for the track league’s inaugural staging, he is confident the competition will grow with time.
The GST series is a new professional track league which will see 96 athletes compete at four different meets, called ‘Slams’, on an annual basis.
The first meet was held in Kingston over the weekend and saw three days of world-class competition.
Despite the high expectations, the meet failed to reel in the expected number of fans into the 35,000-capacity National Stadium.
Johnson said he was pleased, however, to see the fans fully engaged with the competition, despite the several rows of empty seats.
“Obviously, look, let’s be honest. We would love to see more spectators here, you know.
“We think we’ll get that. We think that’ll happen. But the crowd was engaged, and that’s what’s really important. People were really engaged with what’s happening here,” he said after the competition’s end.
For Johnson, his focus will be on celebrating the successful staging of the competition’s first meet, rather than focusing on where they fell short.
He believes as the league continues to hold its individual meets, the competition will continue to improve.
“Everything went smooth from a competition standpoint, but we had a few things behind the scenes that we didn’t like,” Johnson said.
“Other people probably didn’t notice it, but we did. We will look at everything. We noticed lots of different things. But those aren’t the things we’re going to get into right now.”
He continued, “Right now we’re just celebrating that we had a great event, athletes and fans enjoyed it. We’ll continue to improve.”
One of the critiques against GST was the absence of several top names in the sport who had abstained from competing in the league.
However, Johnson said after seeing the GST in action in Kingston, more athletes have signalled their intent to join the league, which, he believes, will bring more interest from fans.
He stated GST race director Kyle Merber has been receiving calls from interested athletes who are now open to joining their ranks.
“His phone has been ringing quite a bit, and that’s exactly what we want.”
The second Slam of the circuit will be held at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miami from May 2 to May 4 before moving to Philadelphia and then Los Angeles.
English (US) ·