World champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden explained why she chose not to comment publicly on Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track financial issues and refrained from criticising the project online.
The triple world champion had signed with Grand Slam Track, being entitled to the prize pool of $12.6 million. The winner of each race had been promised $100,000, with the 10th-place finisher set to receive $10,000.
On top of the prize money, racers were also entitled to earn annual base compensation, with the ‘Challenger’ athletes receiving appearance fees.
However, that promise was broken, and now, Michael Johnson has been in the face of criticism after failing to secure enough funds.
As quoted by BBC Sport, Michael Johnson explained that they struggled to secure funding, something that led to the cancellation of the fourth and final Slam in Los Angeles.
“We promised that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated. Yet, here we are struggling with our ability to compensate them,” Johnson said in August.
Following the announcement, several athletes, including triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, aired their grievances publicly. However, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden chose to remain silent about the struggles.
Jefferson-Wooden expressed that, although she was unsure of what others had been saying about the financial issues at Grand Slam Track, she believed she was one of the few athletes who had not criticised the organisation because she believes in its potential.
The Olympic 100m bronze medallist acknowledged that the situation had been unfortunate and that sometimes, despite having contracts and agreements, business could still fall through if investors lost confidence, possibly due to the absence of key figures.
Jefferson-Wooden admitted she did not know the exact reasons some people had withdrawn support, but felt that such factors likely contributed to the problems.
“I feel like, honestly, granted, I don’t know what everybody else was saying, but I feel like I am one of the only athletes who is a racer in Grand Slam that hasn’t bashed it, but that’s because I genuinely believe in it. I genuinely feel like this can work,” Melissa Jefferson-Wooden said in an interview with Citius Mag.
“Obviously, the situation was very unfortunate. You know, you think you have things in play. You think you can take people for their word, signs, whatever, contracts, whatever the case may be. I’m just running my mouth. I don’t know anything.
“I’m just saying. But at the end of the day, business is still a business. And some of these investors, if they don’t see key people, maybe that’s why that could have been a thing. I don’t know, obviously, why some people decided to pull out, but I’m just saying some of those things have a factor, but it sucks because I say it all the time, it’s this might be a little bit more controversial compared to things that I’ve said in the past, but I do feel like that.”
