There is one particular quirk of athletics that has long baffled Michael Johnson. Why, in a sport where milliseconds decide medals, must runners pin a piece of paper to their shirt to show their name?
“I've asked around to try and find out why it's still like this and I don't have a good, solid answer,” the American legend tells Mail Sport. “It's pretty incredible.”
So when it came time to launch his own revolutionary athletics league, Johnson had a simple two-word starting point. “There are no bibs,” says the 57-year-old. 'You won't see paper or safety pins, I guarantee it.
'We have the fastest people in the world. We think it's important to look like the fastest people in the world, as opposed to the antithesis of fast. Some elements of the sport are stuck in the past.
Johnson believes Grand Slam Track is the future. The man with the gold shoes at Atlanta 1996 has never been afraid to break with conventions to raise his profile and that of athletics. But he believes he has now come up with a concept to take athletics to a whole new level and put it on par with sports like tennis and golf.
Johnson's league will see four three-day events between April and June next year, starting in the Jamaican capital Kingston before moving to the US cities of Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Athletes must run both distances in their “category” at each meet, with 48 stars hired as “runners” to compete over the four weekends, and others must be hired as “challengers” for one or two.
Olympic and track and field legend Michael Johnson is launching his own revolutionary track and field league
The American seeks to use the Grand Slam Track to equate his sport to tennis and golf
BBC Sport's pundit league will see four three-day events taking place between April and June.
The winners of the 12 categories of each event will walk away with £79,000, more than the £55,000 that was offered to the gold medalists at the last World Championships.
“I think it could be huge,” insists founder Johnson, a four-time Olympic champion and veteran BBC pundit. 'I think the potential of this sport is immense. It is the greatest Olympic sport. Every four years, it is the most watched (and probably the most watched) sport in the world.
'It's a sport that everyone understands. It's perfect for today's audience. It's really a series of highlights. Two-thirds of our races take place in less than a minute and there are more and more of them.
“I don't think it's necessary to save the track, but there is a tremendous opportunity to grow and offer fans something they've been complaining about for a long time: the lack of head-to-head competition outside of the world championships.
'Half of my team comes from WWE and that's huge. Look at what happened with the UFC and where they are now. Tennis has four Grand Slams each year. Golf has four majors each year. Look what F1 has done. There is no reason why athletics cannot be on par with those sports.”
Among those who have signed up for Grand Slam Track as runners are British Olympic silver medalists Matthew Hudson-Smith and Josh Kerr. American stars Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are two of the six Paris 2024 individual gold medalists who have teamed up.
However, much to Johnson's frustration, there has been more talk about the big names currently missing, particularly Noah Lyles. The Olympic 100m champion has refused to sign until a television deal is secured, saying: “If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and there's no one there to see it, has it really fallen?”
In response, Johnson says, “We'll announce our TV deal in January, but we're going to go ahead and close our group before then.”
British Olympic silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith is among those who have signed up
Josh Kerr will also participate: athletes must run two distances in their “category” at each meet.
However, one notable absence is Noah Lyles, who is waiting for a television contract to close.
'Noah's timing doesn't work for us and ours doesn't work for him. Alright. We will continue to talk to him about being a challenger and maybe he will become a running back next year.
'I know there will be an over-indexing of Noah and his genius. But I think it does a disservice to all the great athletes we have.
'We have hired 48 runners and we have another 48 challenges that we must sign. “So we're going to continue recruiting the fastest athletes in the world.”
These include British Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, who has indicated that she intends to compete in one of the competitions. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Olympic gold medalist in the 5,000 meters, is another who Johnson hopes will become a challenger.
“We are excited about the potential of having Keely and many others competing as challengers,” Johnson says. 'Fans around the world want to see their favorite athletes compete against the best, and we're sure Keely absolutely fits in as part of that vision.
'We don't have Jakob yet, but we're going to get him. I think he will be a challenger this year in a couple of our races, and maybe next year he will become a runner.”
One complaint about Johnson's concept is that it doesn't suit athletes who specialize in one event. To compete in his “short distance” category, Hodgkinson will have to run the unknown 1,500m, in addition to his favorite 800m.
“I would say there are some people for whom the structure doesn't work,” Johnson admits. “But you can't not build a league if it doesn't work for three people but it works for everyone else.”
British Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson has accused of intending to compete
Johnson said the athletes are “overjoyed by what we offer them” financially.
'We had a waiting list of athletes who wanted to join. Athletes are delighted with what we offer them. It is the first time they have had the opportunity to be contractually guaranteed basic compensation and a track in competitions with the largest prize money the sport has ever seen.
Further criticism has been received for the omission of field events, which Johnson says are not suitable for television due to the time they take to complete. Questions have also been raised about why all four meetings will be held in North America, when the initial plan was to hold two elsewhere.
Johnson insists it was a strategic decision rather than venues rejecting them, despite UK Athletics' claims to the contrary regarding the London Stadium.
“At one point we considered the UK,” he says. 'We looked at a lot of different international cities that were interested. But we've decided that the first year doesn't make sense for us for several reasons.
'From a broadcast standpoint, we want to focus our energy where we feel the opportunity is to grow viewership, and the overwhelming majority of the athletes we've signed are also here in the US.
“I think at some point we will end up in the UK and London is obviously the first option. We have the opportunity in the future to rotate some cities and expand beyond the four as well. But right now we are very excited to focus on this North American market.”
There is criticism over the omission of field events: Johnson says they are not suitable for television
There is also a plan to eventually bring the league to London, most likely to London Stadium.
Johnson also dismisses the idea of Grand Slam Track being a breakaway league, similar to LIV Golf. Nor does he see it as a rival to the current World Athletics Diamond League, even though its meeting in Miami in May coincides with its event in Shanghai.
“What we are doing is very different from the Diamond League,” he adds. 'We are focused on a much more exclusive group of athletes.
'We want to be great partners of World Athletics. We are in constant contact with them. As I was setting out to develop this, I listened to (World Athletics president) Seb Coe's comments over the years. He repeatedly said that we need more innovation in sports, we need athletes to be paid more, and we need to grow the sport in America.
“I heard that and thought, 'Hey, I think I can help with that.' This is going to be hard, there's no doubt about that. But I'm used to doing hard things.