Meeting will take place on May 31 and June 1 in slightly revised format
Grand Slam Track has announced the competition schedule for the third Slam of its inaugural season, a group of new elite Challengers who will compete in Philadelphia, plus some changes to the League’s format for the Philadelphia Slam.
The Philadelphia Slam will now take place across two days, rather than three, on May 31–June 1, at Franklin Field.
“Coming off an amazing sold-out Miami Slam, we’ve taken time to celebrate the successes we’ve achieved in our inaugural season, but also have looked for ways to improve Grand Slam Track in real time,” said Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson.
“We’ve said all along we want to listen to our fans, athletes, and coaches, and having heard feedback from various key stakeholders, we’ve made the decision to condense our schedule in Philadelphia into two, high-octane, and intense days of combat racing. We want to be the most flexible, adaptive, and fan-first league in sports, and we believe making these changes will improve the Grand Slam Track experience for all.”
Johnson believes Philadelphia Slam’s new streamlined competition format will benefit fans in attendance, and viewers at home alike, providing intense, condensed, high-stakes track racing.
To ensure the most thrilling and competitive matchups, the men’s and women’s long distance race groups will each compete in a single 3000m race. As they will only be competing in one race at the Slam, long distance race groups will compete for an adjusted prize pool, with the winner taking home $50,000 instead of $100,000.
The league has also named five new Challengers who will compete at the Philadelphia Slam: Hobbs Kessler and Josh Hoey in the men’s short distance, Georgia Hunter Bell and Nia Akins in the women’s short distance and Isabella Whittaker in the women’s long sprints.
The Philadelphia Slam will also see a rematch from Miami, with Gabby Thomas once again competing in the women’s short sprints, and facing off against her rival and two-time Slam Champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
Also in Philadelphia, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will compete in the women’s short hurdles group, which will see her run the 100m professionally for the very first time. This group will also see the first ever face-off between three Slam Champions, as Miami Slam Champion Ackera Nugent, and two-time Slam Champion McLaughlin-Levrone, will be joined by returning Challenger and Kingston Slam Champion Danielle Williams, all battling for glory and the $100,000 prize.
The Challengers announced this week join the already announced Williams, Ditaji Kambundji, Trey Cunningham, Jakub Szymański, Lorenzo Simonelli and Cordell Tinch. The Grand Slam Track roster of 48 Racers who will compete in Philadelphia includes Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Kenny Bednarek, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Grant Fisher, Sasha Zhoya, Marileidy Paulino, Salwa Eid Naser, Alison dos Santos, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Nikki Hiltz, Masai Russell, Alexis Holmes, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse, Josh Kerr, Oblique Seville, Ackera Nugent, Roshawn Clarke, Rushell Clayton, Nickisha Price, Cyréna Samba-Mayela, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Jereem Richards, Ronald Kwemoi, Agnes Ngetich, Muzala Samukonga, Jess Hull, Marco Arop and more.
For more, see grandslamtrack.com
