Grand Slam Track Philadelphia saw decades-old records fall as its revolutionary approach continues to make waves around the track world.
In a two-day event starting this past Saturday, Grand Slam Track held its third-ever outing inside the historic Franklin Field. Founded by former American Olympic Champion Michael Johnson with the intent of bringing track further into the mainstream eye, Grand Slam Track has successfully recruited some of the best professional track athletes in the world. Guaranteeing large cash prizes of up to $100,000 each for first-place finishers has helped secure the start-up league consistently high levels of competition.
With the Franklin Field stands packed to the brim, securing Grand Slam Track its largest event yet by attendance, the stars showed up and showed out. With 11 Franklin Field records set in the first 11 events, and two world-leading times established on the final day in the short sprints category, it is easy to say that Franklin Field has never seen a track meet quite like this one.
“The crowds were amazing,” Johnson told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Both days, they were energized, and I think it just showed in how our athletes performed. They just love to perform in front of great crowds.”
Unlike other track events, Grand Slam Track anoints victors not just by singular event wins but also by paired event groups. To secure a first-place $100,000 prize, a competitor must compete in two different events where standings are then calculated based on finishing places in each. These event groups are split into sections, with a total of 12 possible victors at each meet.
To start the series was the women's 400-meter hurdles, part of the women's long-distance hurdles category, which has recently been dominated by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone during the past two Grand Slam meets in Kingston, Jamaica, and Miami, Florida. An American Olympic star, world record holder, and current reigning world champ, McLaughlin-Levrone decided not to compete in the long hurdles category this weekend, making way for fellow American national team participant Jasmine Jones to shine. Despite not winning either the 400m hurdles or 400m, her pair of second-place finishes was enough to let Jones secure the first-place prize. In a season marred by injury, Jones becomes the first athlete to win a Grand Slam title without finishing first in either race.
“I know I was coming into this a little nervous. I wasn't sure where I was at this season,” said Jones, who was also making her outdoor season debut. “I got a little bit of that fitness and strength back and just in time for this Slam, so getting on here and finally feeling healthy, was a huge confidence boost and a huge win for me.”
In the men's long-distance hurdles, another unlikely name topped the leaderboards. A newcomer, referred to as challengers by Grand Slam Track, Trevor Bassitt would take the first-place prize, coming second and first in the 400m hurdles and 400m respectively. The 2022 Worlds bronze medalist beat out two-time Grand Slam champion Alison dos Santos, who would finish in a close second. Bassitt was one of three challengers — an athlete not signed to a full-time Grand Slam contract — to win an event in Philadelphia.
The men's short distance events saw its third different winner of the year as Canadian national Marco Arop stole the show, placing first in the 800m and fourth in the 1500m to barely beat out Great Britain's Josh Kerr. Kerr, who was competing for his second straight Grand Slam victory, came fifth in the 800m and first in the 1500m to lose to Arop by a single point. The women's short-distance events saw a much less close competition, as Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia dusted the competition with two first-place finishes. Winning by a total of 10 points, the 2023 World Championships 1500m silver medalist secured her second Grand Slam victory to raucous applause. Penn alum Nia Atkins participated in the event, finishing last in both legs of the competition.
For the women's long-distance events, which uncharacteristically only saw athletes compete in the 3000m, Agnes Jebet Ngetich of Nigeria would see herself crowned champion for the second time in a row. For the men's, Nico Young, a challenger in the event, would win his first-ever Grand Slam title. Young, the NCAA record holder for both the 5,000m and 10,000m, turned a slow start into a rousing victory, keeping pole position in the final 100 meters.
"The track is super fast,” Young said. “I was in a weird spot with 100 meters to go, but I stayed ahead, and that’s good.”
Moving onto the men's and women's long sprints, both events saw repeat champions. For the men's, Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith was able to secure victory by dominating in the 400m on the first day of competition, finishing first, and by doing just enough on the second day of competition, coming fifth in the 200m to secure his 100,000 cash prize. The women's side was much less of a close contest, with Marileidy Paulino securing her second straight Grand Slam title by coming in first in both competitions. In the 400m, Paulino won by an astounding 1.04 seconds over a familiar face, Penn alum and Paris Olympian Isabella Whittaker. Whittaker, who would come in second overall in her second Grand Slam event, made a homecoming to Franklin Field, where she got her collegiate start.
“Grand Slam is definitely doing something that’s never been done before,” Whittaker told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “I think that it's great, and it gives track and field a lot of traction that it doesn’t normally get … It’s very fan-centric, which I think is great because the experiences that the fans are having is really what builds the sport.”
The women's short-distance hurdles events, which consist of the 100-meter hurdles and 100m respectively, saw Ackera Nugent win her second straight Grand Slam title while simultaneously handing McLaughlin-Levrone, one of track's biggest stars, her first loss in competition in nearly two years.
“I wished I could remove myself from my body and watch the race, but it's just like, no, I gotta focus,” Nugent said in relation to competing against McLaughlin-Levrone. “She's very competitive no matter what she does. I had to turn my excitement off, and I just had to lock myself into space.”
“There’s just so much around the unknown that can make you nervous. Especially with the short hurdles,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.“I think it’s natural but that’s part of the challenge, pushing myself out of my comfort zone to do those kinds of things.”
For the men's side, an unsponsored Jamal Britt, a challenger, downed the competition to secure a 100,000 cash prize. Britt defeated Cordell Tinch, the fourth fastest man of all time in the 110-meter hurdles, by two one-hundredths of a second in the first race, and eked out a second place finish in the second race to secure his victory.
“With us, anything can happen,” Britt said. “I would say this is the best generation of hurdlers, and I'm happy that I'm in it.”
The men's and women's short sprints categories would end the show for Grand Slam Track, headlined by the event's most dominant athletes. Going into the final day, both Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Kenny Bednarek had already finished first in the 200m. Already earning victories at both previous Grand Slam Track events as well, all eyes fell on Jefferson-Wooden and Bednarek to close out the day. With Jefferson-Wooden going first, the two-time champ easily became the three-time champ by setting a world-leading time of 10.73 seconds in the 100m. With a tough show to follow, and the crowd already on its feet, Bednarek wouldn't be outdone as he also secured his third Grand Slam victory as well as a world-leading time of his own with a 9.86-second finish.
“I actually knew before the gun the potential that I had for it to be something special,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “You don't have time to think about anything else. Just do what you've been doing.”
“Grand Slam, I think, is kind of built for me,” Bednarek said. “I really need experience in the 100 meters and Grand Slam gave me the opportunity to do that.”
With a better ending than anyone could've asked for, Grand Slam Track sealed its name into the long history of Franklin Field. With well over a century of competition occurring inside the high gates of Penn's home turf, Grand Slam Track broke not only field records but world records in its first edition at Penn.
“That was an epic two days. I mean, it would be hard not to, to be honest," Johnson told the Philadelphia Inquirer in reference to the likelihood of holding another event at Franklin Field. "But we have to make those decisions after the season [about] where we go next. But this felt really good.”
Staff reporter Conor Smith contributed reporting to this story.
