All the things you might want to know in regards to the Grand Slam Observe assembly in Pennsylvania
The Grand Slam Observe collection continues this week in Philadelphia, the place Franklin Subject on the College of Pennsylvania will host the third cease of the four-meet tour. The occasion runs from Could 31 to June 1 and follows earlier competitions held in Kingston, Jamaica, and Miami, Florida.
The league format divides athletes into two teams: “Racers” who’re contracted to compete throughout all 4 occasions within the collection—Kingston, Miami, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles—and “Challengers,” who rotate out and in of every meet, receiving look charges and competing for high prize cash of $100,000.
To recap, these athletes are assigned to compete in one of many following classes: quick sprints (100m/200m), quick hurdles (100m hurdles or 110m hurdles/100m), lengthy sprints (200m/400m), lengthy hurdles (400m hurdles/400m), center distance (800m/1500m), or lengthy distance (3000m/5000m).
Nevertheless, organizers have made a couple of key adjustments for the Philadelphia meet. Based mostly on suggestions from athletes, coaches, and followers, the occasion will now be held over two days as a substitute of three to streamline the competitors schedule.
There’s additionally a change to the long-distance races. Each the lads’s and girls’s long-distance teams will now compete in a single 3000m race, fairly than each the 3000m and 5000m. The adjusted format comes with a $50,000 prize for the winner of every race.
Right here’s a rundown of the athletes competing in Philadelphia and the main points of when and the place you’ll be able to watch the occasion.
Males’s Quick Sprints (100m/200m)
Heading into the third leg of the Grand Slam Observe collection, all eyes are on Kenny Bednarek, who sits on the high of the lads’s leaderboard with an ideal 48 factors from the primary two meets. If he continues his profitable streak in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, Bednarek is on monitor to safe the title of males’s ‘Racer of the Yr.’
Zharnel Hughes of Nice Britain can also be set to return as a Racer, coming in with sturdy kind. He just lately clocked a wind-assisted 19.55 within the straight 200m on the adidas Atlanta Metropolis Video games.
Nevertheless, Racer’s Indirect Seville will miss this meet on account of harm, and Fred Kerley is suspended pending the completion of authorized proceedings and won’t compete in Philadelphia.
Among the many Challengers, Christian Coleman of the USA is a standout identify to observe. The indoor 60m world document holder (6.34) brings each velocity and expertise to the sector.
Canada’s Andre De Grasse can also be again for his second look within the collection after competing in Miami. The seven-time Olympic medallist is now coaching underneath coach Mike Holloway in Florida.
Racers: Kenny Bednarek, Zharnel Hughes
Challengers: Andre De Grasse, Christian Miller, Christian Coleman, Bryan Levell, Udodi Onwuzurike, Aaron Brown
Ladies’s Quick Sprints (100m/200m)
The ladies’s quick sprints in Philadelphia is shaping as much as be one of many highlights, with Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas and Olympic 100m bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wood set to resume their rivalry.
Thomas returns to the Quick Sprints for the second time, having received the Lengthy Sprints title in Kingston earlier than switching occasions in Miami. There, she narrowly missed out on the Quick Sprints crown to Jefferson-Wood, who edged her by only one level after the pair cut up wins throughout the 100m and 200m. Thomas claimed victory within the 200m however completed fourth within the 100m, whereas Jefferson-Wood received the 100m and positioned third within the 200m.
They’ll be joined by fellow Racers Brittany Brown and Nice Britain’s Daryll Neita.
Additionally returning is Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who competed within the Lengthy Sprints class in Kingston however will now shift again to the quick sprints – her extra acquainted territory. Asher-Smith has but to race over 100m this season, together with her final look within the occasion being on the Brussels Diamond League remaining final yr, the place she clocked 10.92.
Racers: Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown, Daryll Neita, Melissa Jefferson-Wood
Challengers: Tamari Davis, Thelma Davies, Dina Asher-Smith, Jadyn Mays
Males’s Lengthy Sprints (200m/400m)
Jereem Richards of Trinidad & Tobago heads into the Philadelphia leg of the Grand Slam Observe collection sitting fifth within the total males’s standings with 31 factors. After ending third in Kingston, Richards bounced again in Miami, taking first within the 200m and second within the 400m to assert the Lengthy Sprints title for that meet.
Matt Hudson-Smith, who received the $100,000 prize pot in Kingston, may also be again in motion in Philadelphia. After inserting fifth total in Miami, the British athlete will probably be seeking to return to profitable kind.
The Racers line-up is additional boosted by Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, who held victory over Hudson-Smith within the 400m on the 2022 Commonwealth Video games.
Additionally returning is Tokyo Olympic 400m gold medallist Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas. Gardiner made his collection debut in Miami as a substitute for Quincy Corridor and can now proceed as a Racer in Philadelphia.
Racers: Muzala Samukonga, Jereem Richards, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Steven Gardiner
Challengers: Jevaughn Powell, Alexander Ogando, Khaleb McRae, Matthew Boling
Ladies’s Lengthy Sprints (200m/400m)
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic is a high contender within the ladies’s Lengthy Sprints after a powerful begin to her Grand Slam Observe marketing campaign. Competing in each the 200m and 400m, Paulino impressed early in Kingston with a second-place end within the 200m and third within the 400m.
However it was in Miami the place she really made her mark. Profitable each occasions that weekend, Paulino earned most factors and now sits third total within the ladies’s Racer of the Yr standings heading into Philadelphia.
Chasing her intently is 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser, who completed runner-up to Paulino in each the 200m and 400m in Miami. Naser will probably be aiming to flip the outcomes this time and declare that high spot.
A number of notable names will probably be becoming a member of the Racers, together with Nice Britain’s Laviai Nielsen, who will make her Grand Slam Observe debut. She has already opened her outside season with appearances on the World Relays and the Doha Diamond League.
Eire’s Sharlene Mawdsley, who trains alongside Laviai underneath coach Tony Lester may also make the journey abroad. Mawdsley enters with a private finest of fifty.71 within the 400m, whereas Laviai holds a better of 49.87.
Racers: Nickisha Pryce, Alexis Holmes, Marileidy Paulino, Salwa Eid Naser
Challengers: Isabella Whittaker, Laviai Nielsen, Jessika Gbai, Sharlene Mawdsley
Males’s Quick Hurdles (110m hurdles/100m)
France’s Sasha Zhoya has shortly develop into one of many standout names of the Grand Slam Observe collection. The 22-year-old impressed in Kingston with a win within the 100m and a runner-up end within the 110m hurdles. He adopted that with one other sturdy exhibiting in Miami, inserting third within the 100m and once more second within the hurdles—each instances behind Trey Cunningham.
Zhoya will probably be aiming to proceed his momentum in Philadelphia after a 2024 season that noticed him fall wanting a medal on the Paris Olympics. He’ll as soon as once more face Cunningham, who returns as a Challenger after standout performances in Miami, as he equalled his 110m hurdles private better of 13.00 and set a brand new 100m PB of 10.17.
The competitors doesn’t cease there. Additionally returning is Racer Daniel Roberts, the Olympic silver and world bronze medallist from the US, who boasts private bests of 12.96 within the 110m hurdles and 10.45 within the 100m.
Becoming a member of Roberts within the Racer lineup is fellow American Freddie Crittenden.
Racers: Freddie Crittenden, Sasha Zhoya, Daniel Roberts
Challengers: Trey Cunningham, Jakub Szymański, Lorenzo Simonelli, Cordell Tinch, Jamal Britt
Ladies’s Quick Hurdles (100m hurdles/100m)
After back-to-back wins in Kingston and Miami, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has dominated the Lengthy Hurdles class with most factors. However, the Olympic champion will shift to the Quick Hurdles in Philadelphia, marking her first race over 100m since 2018. That yr, as a freshman on the College of Kentucky, she ran a wind-assisted 11.07—the quickest flat 100m time amongst all ladies entered on this occasion.
She’ll face a powerful discipline, led by Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent, who received the Miami Slam. Nugent will probably be seeking to repeat her profitable kind in opposition to McLaughlin-Levrone in what guarantees to be an thrilling head-to-head.
Sadly, American hurdles standout Masai Russell, who set a brand new US document of 12.17 in Miami, is not going to compete in Philadelphia on account of harm. Fellow Racer Cyréna Samba-Mayela can also be out for a similar purpose.
Regardless of these absences, the sector stays extremely aggressive. Danielle Williams of Jamaica, who pulled off a shock win in Kingston, returns as a Challenger.
Additionally becoming a member of the Challengers is Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji, the European indoor 60m hurdles champion and world indoor silver medallist.
Racers: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Ackera Nugent
Challengers: Danielle Williams, Ditaji Kambundji, Tia Jones, Christina Clemons, Tonea Marshall, Megan Tapper
Males’s Lengthy Hurdles (400m hurdles/400m)
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos heads into Philadelphia tied on the high of the lads’s total Grand Slam Observe standings with Kenny Bednarek, having delivered a flawless efficiency thus far within the Lengthy Hurdles class. The 2022 world champion has not solely dominated his signature 400m hurdles but additionally impressed on the flat 400m.
With two meets left within the collection, Dos Santos is firmly in competition for the ‘Racer of the Yr’ title if he can preserve his profitable streak.
Becoming a member of him within the Racer lineup are Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke and the USA’s Caleb Dean, each able to pushing the tempo. Additionally returning is American Chris Robinson, who completed second to Dos Santos in Miami and will probably be keen to shut the hole.
Racers: Alison Dos Santos, Caleb Dean, Clément Ducos
Challengers: Trevor Bassitt, Chris Robinson, CJ Allen, Assinie Wilson, Gerald Drummond
Ladies’s Lengthy Hurdles (400m hurdles/400m)
With Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone moving into the quick hurdles for Philadelphia, the ladies’s lengthy hurdles discipline is out of the blue large open—setting the stage for a any person else to take the highest spot.
Among the many main contenders is Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight, who completed second to McLaughlin-Levrone in Miami and returns as a Challenger this weekend.
Returning to the Racer line-up is fellow Jamaican Rushell Clayton, who missed the Miami meet and he or she’ll be joined by Shamier Little and Jasmine Jones.
Little provides priceless depth to the sector, with a résumé that features World Championship silver medals in 2015 and 2023 and a private better of 52.39 within the 400m hurdles. Jones, who completed simply outdoors the medals in Paris, may also be a powerful risk for the win.
Making her Grand Slam Observe debut is Lina Nielsen of Nice Britain, twin sister of Laviai Nielsen. Whereas she hasn’t but opened her particular person outside season, Lina was a part of the British 4x400m staff that certified for Worlds on the current World Relays. She brings versatility, with a private finest of fifty.78 within the 400m flat and 54.43 within the hurdles.
Racers: Shamier Little, Rushell Clayton, Jasmine Jones
Challengers: Lina Nielsen, Dalilah Muhammad, Ayomide Folorunso, Anna Cockrell, Andrenette Knight
Males’s Quick Distance (800m/1500m)
The boys’s middle-distance occasions have delivered a number of the best races, and that development seems to be set to proceed in Philadelphia. Josh Kerr emerged victorious in Miami, claiming the Slam title after a powerful win within the 1500m and a fifth-place end within the 800m. However with the depth of expertise on this occasion group, the title is actually up for grabs.
Kerr will probably be joined as soon as once more by a loaded discipline that features fellow Olympic 1500m medallists Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, in addition to 800m world champion Marco Arop. All three will probably be gunning for redemption and hoping to knock Kerr off the highest spot.
Including contemporary faces to the combo is Josh Hoey, one of many breakout stars of the 2024 indoor season. The American surged into the highlight by working the second-fastest indoor 800m in historical past and profitable the world indoor title.
Additionally making his season debut is Nice Britain’s Elliot Giles. He hasn’t raced outside but in 2025 and is returning after pulling up within the 1500m on the British Indoor Championships earlier this yr. Giles will probably be aware of most of the athletes within the discipline, together with fellow Brit Josh Kerr, who he shared a dramatic second with finally yr’s British Outside Championships when the pair collided within the remaining stretch of the 800m.
Racers: Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, Yared Nuguse, Marco Arop
Challengers: Hobbs Kessler, Josh Hoey, Elliot Giles, Samuel Chapple
Ladies’s Quick Distance (800m/1500m)
With Freweyni Hailu, the Miami Slam winner, not returning as a Challenger for Philadelphia, the ladies’s middle-distance discipline is large open and the competitors to take the highest spot will probably be fierce.
Racers Jess Hull, Nikki Hiltz, Diribe Welteji, and Mary Moraa now have a chance to assert a Slam title. Welteji is available in because the Kingston champion however positioned fourth total in Miami, whereas Hiltz has been persistently shut, ending second at each earlier meets and searching extra decided than ever to lastly take a win.
Mary Moraa, higher identified for her dominance within the 800m, had a powerful turnout in Miami after a disappointing eighth within the 1500m however bounced again to win the 800m and safe third total. Her late-race power makes her a critical contender as soon as once more.
Becoming a member of the line-up as a Challenger is Georgia Hunter Bell, making her Grand Slam Observe debut. The British middle-distance star produced a bronze medal efficiency within the 1500m on the Paris Olympics, the place she shared the rostrum with Jess Hull—her upcoming rival in Philadelphia. Bell holds the British document within the 1500m with a time of three:52.61 and has spectacular 800m velocity, clocking a private better of 1:56.28 on the London Diamond League final yr.
Racers: Jess Hull, Nikki Hiltz, Diribe Welteji, Mary Moraa
Challengers: Georgia Hunter Bell, Nia Atkins, Abbey Caldwell, Abby Wiley
Males’s Lengthy Distance (3000m)
Grant Fisher has had sturdy showings in each Kingston and Miami thus far. The American distance star positioned third within the 3000m and received the 5000m in Kingston, earlier than enhancing to second within the 3000m and repeating his 5000m victory in Miami.
A double Olympic bronze medallist within the 5000m and 10,000m at Paris 2024, Fisher enters Philadelphia as one of many high contenders within the long-distance group. With the 5000m off the schedule for this leg of the collection, all consideration now turns to the 3000m—an occasion Fisher has but to win on the circuit.
Standing in his approach as soon as once more will probably be Eire’s Andrew Coscoran, who shocked many in Miami by outkicking Fisher to win the 3000m. Coscoran returns as a Challenger and will probably be aiming to repeat the upset on the Philadelphia monitor.
Additionally re-joining the sector is Hagos Gebrhiwet, who received the 3000m in Kingston however was absent in Miami. The Ethiopian star returns as a Racer alongside Ronald Kwemoi of Kenya, one other Racer able to pushing the tempo and difficult for the win.
Racers: Grant Fisher, Ronald Kwemoi, Hagos Gebrhiwet
Challengers: Graham Blanks, Nico Younger, Ky Robinson, Edwin Kurgat, Andrew Coscoran
Ladies’s Lengthy Distance (3000m)
Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich presently sits fifth within the ladies’s total standings. She opened her season with a pair of second-place finishes within the 3000m and 5000m in Kingston, then adopted that up in Miami with a 3rd within the 3000m and a dominant win within the 5000m—securing the general title at that meet.
In Philadelphia, she’ll be seeking to construct on that momentum, however the competitors is about to accentuate.
Returning as a Challenger is Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa, who pushed Ngetich all the best way within the Miami 5000m. The 2 ran the whole race collectively earlier than Ngetich pulled away for the win. Eisa will probably be wanting to reverse the end result. Already a two-time World U20 champion within the 5000m (2022 and 2024), Eisa additionally earned silver within the junior ladies’s race on the 2023 World Cross Nation Championships and is shortly proving she belongs on the senior degree.
Additionally re-joining the sector is Ejgayehu Taye, who beat Ngetich to the highest spot in Kingston and now returns to problem once more in Philadelphia. With all three having posted sturdy ends in earlier Slams, this may very well be probably the most aggressive ladies’s 3000m of the collection thus far.
Racers: Nozomi Tanaka, Tsige Gebreselama, Agnes Ngetich, Elise Cranny
Challengers: Ejgayehu Taye, Weini Kelati, Medina Eisa, Josette Andrews
Timetable (BST)
Saturday Could 31
21:39 – Ladies’s 400m hurdles (Lengthy Hurdles)
21:48 – Males’s 400m hurdles (Lengthy Hurdles)
21:57 – Males’s 800m (Quick Distance)
22:07 – Males’s 200m (Quick Sprints)
22:16 – Ladies’s 200m (Quick Sprints)
22:25 – Ladies’s 3000m (Lengthy Distance)
22:42 – Ladies’s 400m (Lengthy Sprints)
22:51 – Males’s 400m (Lengthy Sprints)
23:00 – Ladies’s 1500m (Quick Distance)
23:13 – Males’s 110m hurdles (Quick Hurdles)
23:22 – Ladies’s 110m hurdles (Quick Hurdles)
Sunday June 1
20:41 – Males’s 400m (Lengthy Hurdles)
20:50 – Ladies’s 400m (Lengthy Hurdles)
20:59 – Ladies’s 800m (Quick Distance)
21:09 – Males’s 100m (Quick Hurdles)
21:18 – Ladies’s 100m (Quick Hurdles)
21:27 – Males’s 3000m (Lengthy Distance)
21:43 – Ladies’s 200m (Lengthy Sprints)
21:52 – Males’s 200m (Lengthy Sprints)
22:01 – Males’s 1500m (Quick Distance)
22:13 – Ladies’s 100m (Quick Sprints)
22:22 – Males’s 100m (Quick Sprints)
Grand Slam Observe will probably be obtainable to observe within the UK and Eire on TNT Sports activities, whereas Eurosport will present the protection for audiences in Europe and Asia.
