Michael Johnson’s Track Start-Up Declares Bankruptcy

The promise of Grand Slam Track was alluring. Track athletes have long struggled to make money; the quadrennial cycle of the Olympics brings attention to the sport in erratic bursts that are difficult to sustain between Summer Games. After the Paris Olympics, several track start-ups sought to allay the unsteadiness, most notably Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track: The four-time Olympic gold medalist boasted that GST had secured over $30 million in funding before Paris. One year and just three events later, GST has declared bankruptcy.

Johnson's main investor was Winner's Alliance, the Bill Ackman vehicle also associated with Novak Djokovic's nascent, contradiction-riddled tennis players union. The Athletic reported this past August that the Winner's Alliance had not in fact invested the promised $30 million, but rather had handed over $13 million, with an option to give an additional $19 million if things went well. Things did not go well. The first meet was held in April in Kingston, Jamaica, and was attended by officials from Eldridge, Chelsea Football Club owner Todd Boehly's asset management company. The two parties had agreed to a non-binding term sheet, but the Kingston meet turned out so underwhelming that Eldridge declined to invest in the league at all.