Grand Slam Track (GST) touched down in Miami the weekend of May 2-4 and hit the ground running again after it did so in Jamaica.
And what a weekend it was for the athletes! Some runners repelled the challenges from their rivals, others got even with those who defeated them at the first Slam, and others ran away with lots of money, even when they didn’t win the maximum 24 points they could get in one meet.
Significant was that three athletes remained unbeaten from Kingston and copped over US$200,000 from both weeks.
USA’s Racer Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was one of them, she destroyed her opponents in quite a relaxed manner in both her main event, the 400m hurdles, and the flat 400m that she hardly runs. However, the long hurdles world record holder did not compete against of the world’s best quarter-milers in the latter (Racers Paulino and Naser, for example) based on how the Slam is structured to test athletes outside their comfort zone. The outcome begs the question: what would have happened if they were together in the same flat 400m race?
Then there’s Racer Kenny Bednarek, also of the USA, who looked like a robot on the track. He won the sprint double in Jamaica and repeated it in Miami with an over-the-limit 9.70secs (2.4m/s) in the 100m and 19.84 in the 200m. At this early point in the season, he looks hard to beat, but let’s not forget Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, Bednarek’s countryman Noah Lyles, and possibly others who are yet to reveal any threats they have for Bednarek.
Brazilian Racer Alison dos Santos is not to be played with; like Levrone, he won his main event, the 400m hurdles, and the flat 400m in Kingston and repeated in Miami, looking quite strategic and strong in his 400m race.
For the upcoming Slam in Philadelphia, McLaughlin-Levrone will shift gears from the 400m hurdles down to the sprint hurdles, which is not her forte. She, who has not been defeated on the track in a long time, could face sprint hurdles specialists world leader Masai Russell of the USA, Ackera Nugent, and veteran Danielle Williams of Jamaica. This race promises mouth-watering competition.
The list of competitors for Philadelphia is not yet out, but if Racers dos Santos and Bednarek are there, it’s hardly likely that they will switch events as much as it’s likely that they will lose any of their races. However, it’s not impossible for a Challenger to come in steal their thunder.
This is what makes Grand Slam Track so exciting.