Gabby Thomas, Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr among track stars racing in Miramar this weekend
While the world’s top F1 drivers are racing at Hard Rock Stadium this weekend, some of the fastest track and field athletes will be racing just up the road in Miramar at Grand Slam Track Miami, the second stop of the new track series founded by Olympic legend Michael Johnson.
The meet is being held from Friday through Sunday at the Ansin Sports Complex.
Among the featured events are the women’s 100/200, with Olympic champion Gabby Thomas (USA) and Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA); the women’s 200/400 with Dominican star Marileidy Paulino, 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser, and World Indoor champ Amber Anning; Grant Fisher (USA) and Sam Atkin (Great Britain) in the men’s 3,000, and the men’s 800/1500 with Olympic silver medalist Josh Kerr (Great Britain), Olympic champion Cole Hocker (USA), Yared Nuguse (USA), Marco Arop (Canada), and Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya.
The tour contracted 48 athletes, known as “GST Racers” to compete in four annual meets with a total of $12.6 million in prize money and then used appearance fees to bring in another 48 athletes (“GST Challengers”).
The athletes are divided into categories by race distance from the 100 to the 5,000 meters and compete for a $100,000 top prize, with money being awarded down to $10,000 for eighth place.
Johnson said South Florida was selected as a venue because the Ansin track, which has hosted international track meets in the past, is known for its quick surface and because Miami is a global city.
“Our league is a global league with athletes from all over the world, so we felt Miami was good location for us,” Johnson told the Herald. “There’s great culture there, music, food and for all our events, that is an important component.”
Miramar is in the heart of South Florida’s Caribbean community, hosts an annual Caribbean American Heritage Month and its residents have a tradition of following track and field, as many great sprinters have been from Jamaica, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago.
The meet will be streamed live on Peacock. Tickets are available at grandslamtrack.com/events