Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Josh Kerr, Kenny Bednarek and Mariledy Paulino are at the top of the shortlist of athletes who are collectively owed more than $1 million in prize money and appearance fees by Grand Slam Track, according to court document disclosures following the league’s bankruptcy filing.
Last week Grand Slam Track filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after asking its creditors to accept a 50 percent payment offer in order to help the league survive.
According to an amended filing on Monday, the league’s top creditors were included with seven athletes as McLaughlin-Levrone led the list and is owed $356,250. Other creditors include various vendors, with the largest overall creditors being a joint venture between Momentum Broadcast Ltd in the United Kingdom and Carr Hughes Production in the United States, which is owed $3 million.
The league asked its creditors to agree to the partial payment plan in early December in order to avoid bankruptcy, which some vendors like World Athletics rejected.
But with last week’s bankruptcy filing, the league claimed it only had $0-$50,000 in assets, between 200 and 999 creditors and between $10,000,001 and $50 million in liabilities. The amended filing said that the league is “seeking to confirm a plan of reorganization,” and was signed by founder Michael Johnson, league chief operating officer Steve Gera and lawyer J. Rudy Freeman.
In statement shared after last week’s filing, Johnson reiterated his commitment to the league, said it would not shut down and that it would not abandon ‘obligations’ to settle outstanding debts.
“After the withdrawal of a committed investment earlier this year, we worked tirelessly to secure replacement funding, meet our obligations, and keep GST moving forward,” the statment read.
But the statement also said that a “reset” was essential to ensuring the league would remain active in order for future seasons to happen.
“With every alternative fully explored, moving into a court-supervised reorganization — which is what GST did today became the clearest path to protect our community and our mission,” the statement said.
Grand Slam Track has navigated a strained path since its inaugural event in Kingston, Jamaica in April. The meet was hampered by low attendance but the league rebounded in its Miami-area events May and Philadelphia later that month. A fourth, and final, meet scheduled for June in Los Angeles was canceled abruptly as rumors swirled about the league’s finances.
Shorty after, athletes and their representatives sought answers from the league over nearly $13 million in unpaid appearances fees and prize money as some even contacted World Athletics for guidance. Johnson later revealed that issues with an investor who backed out crippled Grand Slam Track’s finances dating back to the Kingston meet.
An investigation by The Athletic in August revealed that the league had only secured $13 million in financing. Despite being backed by Winners Alliance, an additional $19 million — which was optional — was not given to Grand Slam Track.
The league was announced last year with ambitions to boost the quality and pay scale in track and drew headlines when McLauglhin-Levrone was revealed as the first signing. Other marquee names like Thomas, Kerr, Yared Nuguse and Grant Fisher would soon follow as the promised payout for event winners easily surpassed other track and field promotions like the Diamond League. Event winners would take home $100,000 while eighth place finishers received $10,000.
Top athletes owed by Grand Slam Track
1. Sydney McLauglhin-Levrone – $356,250
2. Gabby Thomas – $249,375
3. Kenny Bednarek – $225,000
4. Josh Kerr – $218,750
5. Marileidy Paulino – $211,875
6. Alison dos Santos – $190,625
7. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden – $190,625
Top 20 creditors owed by Grand Slam Track
1. Momentum-CHP Partnership – $3,035,583.93
2. PMY Ets Usa Inc. – $1,267,579.98
3. Girraphic – $690,624.13
4. Tata Communications – $485,000.00
5. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone – $356,250
6. Eversheds Sutherland LLP – $324,968.50
7. Jack Morton Worldwide Inc. – $314,145.00
8. Allied Global Marketing – $283,895.29
9. CITIUS MAG – $272,915.80
10. Two Circles – $250,000.00
11. Gabby Thomas – $249,375.00
12. SRK Strategies – $248,164.68
13. TMSCORPRO – $238,850.75
14. Kenny Bednarek – $225,000.00
15. The Parker Company LLC – $222,364.59
16. Josh Kerr – $218,750.00
17. Marileidy Paulino – $211,875.00
18. Alison Dos Santos – $190,625.00
19. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden – $190,625.00
20. Elysian Strategic Marketing, Inc. – $179,547.09
