When Josh Kerr was struck for the first time on a new revolutionary athletics competition, he initially feared being recruited for a more controversial concept.
“At first, I thought it was improved games!” The 1500 -meter world champion reveals Mail Sport. “I could have been the face of games improved by accident!” It wouldn’t have been good, right?
Improved games are an Olympic style event offered where athletes are allowed to consume drugs improving performance. For Kerr’s relief, however, he quickly discovered that the company for which he was poache was a large -sized track league founded by American legend Michael Johnson, where doping is illegal.
“Because it was very secret and no information was revealed on this subject, I said to myself:” Are there any tests? ” “, Continues the 27 -year -old player. “When they said yes, I said to myself:” Ok, good start “.
“Then I had a call with Michael and listened to his argument. I asked a lot of questions and it took me a long time to make sure it was the right decision – and that’s the case.
“I don’t want to sit here and complain about sport, that there is not enough money or a fairly big audience, then to do nothing. We have to be part of this change – and I think it’s change.
Josh Kerr revealed that he was listening to Michael Johnson’s business ground for the Grand Chelem piece
The large track league was founded by Johnson and launches in Kingston, Jamaica,
Kerr, the first Briton to join one of the 48 “runners” of the TPS, praised the Slam platform
This change is called Grand Slam Track (TPS) and it starts Friday in Kingston, Jamaica, with the American cities of Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles welcoming the other three -day meetings by the end of June.
Kerr was the first British star to register as one of the 48 “runners” of the TPS – athletes who are contracted to participate in the whole series of four events. Zharnel Hughes, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Daryll Neita have since followed suit.
Other runners will participate in ad-hoc meetings as “challengers” and will receive appearance fees. Dina Asher-Smith British, Neil Gourley and Melissa Courtney-Buryant will all race in Kingston in this role.
Each athlete must compete over two distances at each meeting in one of the six categories: short sprints (100m, 200m), short obstacles (100m, 100m / 110m obstacles), long sprints (200m, 400m), long obstacles (400m, 400m obstacles), short distance (800m, 1,500m) or a long distance (3000, 5,000).
Champions of each category of each slam will receive $ 100,000 (£ 77,000), but there are prices for all participants, eighth place obtaining $ 10,000 (£ 7,700). The winners of the category will be determined by the best score of combined points of their two races, with 10 points for first place, eight for the second, six for the third, one for the eighth.
The 1500m Olympic silver medalist, Kerr, will face the two men with whom he shared the Paris 2024 podium, the Americans Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, but his great rival Jakob Ingretsen is not involved.
Asked what he is paid to be a runner, the Scot says: “I don’t think I am allowed to say figures, but it’s much more than the money price. They do a very good work of treatment of athletes and professionals.
“We have our guaranteed money just to introduce ourselves and it is important for athletes because we are entrepreneurs, we are not employees and we must pay the bills.
Zharnel Hughes also registered, just like Matthew Hudson-Smith and Daryll Neita
“It is not my motivation. My motivation is to be on a massive platform showing our sport. But it would be stupid to deny that it made a difference in a part of the decision -making, because of course.
A decision that Kerr made because of his next involvement in the lucrative league was to skip the world indoor championships last weekend in China. The gold medalists of this event received only $ 40,000 (£ 31,000), which Kerr criticized when he won the 3,000m title in Glasgow last year.
“Mailing a major championship is not what I want, but sport changes, and I signed to do four races with this league,” explains Kerr. “If I want to try to keep my world’s outdoor title in September, I have to take a break somewhere.”
Given the proposed wealth and the way it disrupted the status quo of the sport, the TPS has brought comparisons with the controversial liv supported by Saudi.
“I don’t know if it’s quite the drama of the liv against the PGA!” said Kerr. “But golf has transcended in the past four years. Look at what they do. They make their interior competitions, they have the match, they have the Ryder Cup.
“They have all these things that are great for the experience of fans. What are we ideal for fans’ experience? We don’t do it. The product is not good enough at the moment.
“The world championships and the Olympic Games are incredible in sport. But when you talk about something that happens every two or four years, you are just not going to create the public.
It remains to be seen how TPS will help develop the athletics public in the United Kingdom, since the four events are in North America and that it is broadcast behind a TV payment wall, on TNT Sports.
Despite the criticisms of the new Johnson League, Kerr says that it will be transformational for the track
“I connected to the United Kingdom,” admits Kerr, who lives and trains in America. “I hope it will be there next year.”
But despite TPS criticisms which are too centered on the United States, Kerr is convinced that he will be transformational for the track.
“I think we can enter a wider audience and we can make a show of it,” adds Kerr, who also launched his own YouTube channel to try to develop his profile.
“A diamond league is simply not the same experience as a Formula 1 race or a match in the Champions League. When you change the fan experience, it allows it to expand what we do.
“We just need a larger step. We need more people looking and we need more people who talk about sport.
“If we can do it, this is where the biggest television offers come into play, which allows everyone to earn a little more money, which will continue to raise sport.