JOSH KERR INTERVIEW: Michael Johnson acquired in contact to pitch his new big-money monitor league… it may make waves in athletics

When Josh Kerr was first sounded out about a revolutionary new athletics competition, he initially feared he was being recruited for a rather more controversial concept.

‘At first I thought it was the Enhanced Games!’ the world 1500 metres champion reveals to Mail Sport. ‘I could have been the face of the Enhanced Games by accident! That wouldn’t have been good, would it?’

The Enhanced Games is a proposed Olympic-style event where athletes are allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs. To Kerr’s relief, however, he soon discovered the venture he was being poached for was a big-money track league founded by US legend Michael Johnson, where doping is illegal.

‘Because it was very secretive and no information had come out about it, I was like, “Is there testing?”,’ continues the 27-year-old. ‘When they said yes, I was like, “OK, good start”.

‘Then I had a call with Michael and I listened to his business pitch. I asked a lot of questions and it took me a long time to make sure this was the right decision – and it is.

‘I don’t want to sit here and complain about the sport, that there’s not enough money or a big enough audience, and then not do anything about it. We have to be part of that change – and I think this is the change.’

That change is called Grand Slam Track (GST) and it kicks off on Friday in Kingston, Jamaica, with the US cities of Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles hosting the other three-day meets between now and the end of June.

Kerr was the first British star to sign up as one of GST’s 48 ‘racers’ – athletes who are contracted to compete in the whole four-event series. Zharnel Hughes, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Daryll Neita have since followed suit.

Other runners will take part at ad-hoc meets as ‘challengers’ and will receive appearance fees. Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, Neil Gourley and Melissa Courtney-Bryant will all race in Kingston in this role.

Each athlete must compete over two distances at each meet in one of six categories: short sprints (100m, 200m), short hurdles (100m, 100m/110m hurdles), long sprints (200m, 400m), long hurdles (400m, 400m hurdles), short distance (800m, 1,500m) or long distance (3,000, 5,000m).

Champions of each category at each Slam will receive $100,000 (£77,000), but there is prize money for all participants, with eighth place getting $10,000 (£7,700). Category winners will be determined by the best combined points score from their two races, with 10 points for first place, eight for second, six for third, down to one for eighth.

Olympic 1500m silver medallist Kerr will be up against the two men he shared the Paris 2024 podium with, Americans Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, but his big rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen is not involved.

Asked what he is being paid to be a racer, the Scot says: ‘I don’t believe I’m allowed to say any numbers, but it’s a lot more than the prize money. They’re doing a really good job of treating the athletes like professionals.

‘We have our guaranteed money just for showing up and that’s important for athletes because we’re contractors, we’re not employees, and we have got to pay the bills.

‘It’s not my motivation. My motivation is to be on a massive platform showing off our sport. But it would be stupid to deny that that made a difference in some of the decision making, because of course it does.’

One decision Kerr made because of his upcoming involvement in the lucrative league was to skip last weekend’s World Indoor Championships in China. Gold medallists at that event received just $40,000 (£31,000), something Kerr was critical of when he won the 3,000m title in Glasgow last year.

‘Missing a major championship is not what I want, but the sport is changing, and I’ve signed on to do four races with this league,’ says Kerr. ‘If I want to try and retain my outdoor world title in September, I have to take a break somewhere.’

Given the riches on offer and how it has disrupted the sport’s status quo, GST has brought comparisons with the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

‘I don’t know if it’s quite got the drama of LIV versus the PGA!’ says Kerr. ‘But golf has transcended over the last four years. Look at what they’re doing. They’re doing their indoor competitions, they have The Match, they have the Ryder Cup.

‘They have all these things that is great for the fan experience. What do we have that is great for the fan experience? We don’t. The product’s not good enough at the moment.

‘The World Championships and Olympics are amazing in the sport. but when you’re talking about something that happens every two or four years, you’re just not going to create the audience.’

It remains to be seen how GST will help grow athletics audiences in the UK, given all four events are in North America and it is being broadcast behind a TV paywall, on TNT Sports.

‘I signed on to it being in the UK,’ admits Kerr, who lives and trains in America. ‘Hopefully it will be there next year.’

But despite criticism of GST being too US-centric, Kerr is confident it will be transformational for track.

‘I think we can grab a wider audience and we can make it a spectacle,’ adds Kerr, who has also launched his own YouTube channel to try and grow his profile.

‘A Diamond League just isn’t the same experience as a Formula One race or a Champions League game. When you change the experience for the fan, it allows it to broaden what we’re doing.

‘We just need a bigger stage. We need more people watching and we need more people talking about the sport.

‘If we can do that, then that’s where the bigger TV deals come in, which allows everyone to make a little bit more cash, which will continue to elevate the sport.

‘Grand Slam Track is not going to get it right straight away, but it’s definitely making waves in the sport – and that’s pretty cool to be a part of.’