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≡ THE BIG PICTURE ≡
Grand Slam Track revealed the first of its four meet locations for 2025, Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston, on 4-5-6 April.
Kingston and Los Angeles are confirmed locations for 2025, with two others to be announced later this week. Birmingham (GBR) has been whispered as a possible location after the excellent Commonwealth Games held at the renovated Alexander Stadium in 2022.
This is the first confirmed date for the inaugural GST season; no other dates have been announced. The Kingston meet is scheduled two weeks after the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing (CHN), and three weeks before the first Diamond League meet in Xiamen (CHN) on 26 April.
As a reminder, the competition program will include:
● “Racers and Challengers will be assigned to compete in one of the following categories, and will all race in two events during each Slam: short sprints (100 m/200 m), short hurdles (100H or 110H/100 m), long sprints (200 m/400 m), long hurdles (400H/400 m), short distance (800 m/1500 m), or long distance (3000 m/5000 m).”
● “All competitors’ final placement score will be determined by their combined finishing order between the two races. In the event of a tie across the two events, it will be the athlete who had the quickest combined time across the two races who will be deemed the winner.”
● “The winner of each Slam group will take home $100,000 in prize money, and the 8th place competitor will earn $10,000.”
There is no team scoring, and no field events. Athletes will wear their own uniforms, of their own design or style; there is no indication on how they will be identified for the benefit of fans since they will perform “without traditional hip numbers or bibs.”
There will be 96 athletes competing in each meet: 48 “Racers” who are contracted for the season and 48 “Challengers” who are contracted meet-by-meet. The “Racers” group has 32 signed so far, with four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. the first signee, along with many other U.S. and international stars.
No broadcast information has been announced as yet.
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