New Grand Slam circuit offers track nerds plenty to debate early in season

Morgan Campbell · for CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 7:33 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Putting Sydney McLaughlin successful the last contention of the last time of the inaugural Grand Slam Track lawsuit was a elemental prime for organizers.

She's American and mediagenic and a generational performer. Three trips to the Olympics and counting. Four golden medals, with much coming if she stays steadfast and motivated. Every clip she steps connected the way she threatens the 400-metre hurdle satellite record.

Except Sunday day she'll beryllium moving the level 400, which, arsenic of close now, is her second-best event.

And alternatively of lining up against Grand Slam Track's different 400m standouts, similar existent satellite person Salwa Eid Nasser, 2024 Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino and 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas, the caller circuit's format volition pit her against different hurdlers successful a contention without obstacles.

That archetypal matchup — a four-way conflict royale among tip-tier elites — is simply a headliner astatine immoderate way conscionable connected the planet, and the benignant of high-speed, high-profile showdown that intrigues hardcores and drive-by fans alike. It's besides the benignant of contention the caller league teased erstwhile it promised to stitchery best-in-class performers successful a unsocial format.

And the main lawsuit they're delivering connected Sunday?

It's a bid of choices.

WATCH | Michael Johnson discusses Grand Slam Track with CBC Sports' Morgan Campbell:

A astute show determination to enactment 21 hours betwixt the hurdles and the level 400, to springiness fine-tuned athletes maximum clip to rest. 

A savvy selling play to acceptable up McLaughlin-Levrone — who has the fastest idiosyncratic champion successful the tract by 2 seconds — to behaviour a quarter-mile session successful the meet's last race, and permission a stunning last content connected viewers successful the 189 countries wherever the lawsuit is scheduled to air.

The verdict connected the determination to support McLaughlin-Leverone abstracted from Nasser, Paulino and Thomas this play depends connected what happens next.

If organizers marque definite that the 4 superstars are connected a collision course, it's brilliant. Building hostility aboriginal successful the twelvemonth makes the late-season payoff that overmuch much satisfying. If you're a Grand Slam Track stakeholder, you'd emotion to extremity the twelvemonth with Sydney versus Gabby versus Marileidy versus Nasser, each of them attacking the 48-second barrier.

But if you're a boxing fan, you cognize that conscionable due to the fact that a matchup should happen, doesn't mean it will. That's wherefore we ne'er got Lennox Lewis against Riddick Bowe for a pro satellite title. And if Grand Slam Track, whose existent format has McLaughlin-Levrone successful a abstracted lawsuit class from Nasser, Thomas and Paulino, can't find a mode to get those 4 unneurotic this season, past it each looks cynical. Best connected champion with an asterisk.

Am I nit-picking?

Possibly.

No substance what I upwind up reasoning astir the format, the races it facilitates and the ones it prevents, I'm impressed astatine the extent and breadth of endowment lining up connected the recently resurfaced way astatine Kingston's National Stadium this weekend.

All 3 medallists from the women's 100m in Paris are scheduled to vie — Masai Russell, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Cyréna Samba-Mayela. The men's 100m features Kenny Bednarek, Fred Kerley, Zharnel Hughes and Oblique Seville. It could astir beryllium a satellite final, successful the archetypal week successful April.

Early play causes scheduling nightmare

This clip of year, which marks the unofficial opening of the outdoor season, is thrilling for avid way fans, but a nightmare for anyone trying to stitchery a captious wide of talented performers for a top-level event. Nearly everyone is astatine a antithetic signifier successful their buildup to the satellite championships successful September. Hardly anyone's docket lines up with everybody else's.

You privation to spot Andre De Grasse and the remainder of Team Canada this weekend? 

They're astatine the Florida Relays successful Gainesville. De Grasse trains successful Gainesville now, and is scheduled to tally the 200m, with Canadian 400m phenom Christopher Morales Williams competing successful the adjacent heat.

Trying to get a look astatine Olympic 100m champ Julien Alfred and silver-medallist Sha'Carri Richardson? They're slated to tally astatine the Miramar Invitational extracurricular Miami.

Other big-name sprinters and hurdlers?

Noah Lyles? Kishane Thompson? Femke Bol?

They're each someplace, but not the aforesaid place.

WATCH | Grand Slam Track, explained:

For way nerds, the scattered enactment is portion of the fun. You ticker 1 conscionable connected TV and watercourse different connected your laptop. If there's nary unrecorded feed, you find the meet's website and support refreshing for existent results. But you support successful caput that you're collecting info successful aboriginal outpouring to assistance you marque consciousness of the planetary competitions coming successful precocious summer.

Grand Slam Track promises a alteration of pace. It has america paying person attention, earlier successful the play than we're utilized to, and it's refreshing. This play represents a uncommon April way conscionable that means thing big-picture. Serious way fans aren't utilized to it, but it's a wont worthy learning.

Same with the Grand Slam Track format, which groups athletes according to lawsuit category, and has them vie successful 2 abstracted races each weekend. So, 100m specialists besides tally the 200 due to the fact that they're successful the "short sprinter" cohort. As a "long hurdler" McLaughlin-Levrone besides runs a level 400, portion 400m specialists similar Paulino adhd the 200 arsenic portion of the "long sprints" category.

At its best, the operation sets up Olympic level action, similar Bednarek racing Kerley and Hughes successful the 100 and 200. 

And it answers hypothetical questions that way nerds emotion to debate. Does Marco Arop, the satellite champion 800m runner from Edmonton person a large capable state vessel to bent with Olympic champ Cole Hocker successful the 1500? Does Hocker person the footspeed to decorativeness successful the aforesaid postal codification arsenic Arop successful the 800?

We're astir to see.

But successful the women's sprints and hurdles, the groups arsenic presently constituted forestall the champion 400m race possible. 

McLaughlin Leverone isn't a 400m specialist, but she has 400-metre credentials. Her 400 hurdles satellite grounds is 50.37 seconds. Only 2 Canadian women person tally faster than that successful the level 400 – and nary since 1988.

Her 48.74 idiosyncratic champion makes her the second-fastest American ever astatine 400m, and successful the 4x400m relay successful Paris past summertime she ripped disconnected a blistering 47.71-second split, wide credited arsenic the fourth-fastest ever. She's not an interloper stealing a lane from a much deserving runner, and she's not posting second-tier times successful her second-best event.  She's a medal favourite successful 2 races, and a campaigner to marque Grand Slam past successful the circuit's archetypal year.

If the format lets her.

And if it doesn't idiosyncratic needs to marque the determination that leads to the champion contention possible. Four all-time performers, 3 spots connected the podium. 

Somebody volition person to lose, but the Grand Slam way would win.

And truthful would the fans.