Jamaica’s National Stadium is “high on the list” of potential venues to host the inaugural season of Grand Slam Track (GST) in 2025, says the league’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Steve Gera.

Grand Slam Track, the revolutionary track league founded by legendary Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson, is set to stage meets in four cities next year.

The conceptualisers of the made-for-television track festival want to fuse high-quality performances on the track with cultural entertainment off it to showcase the uniqueness of each host city.

While they have settled on Los Angeles, United States, as one of the stops, they are yet to announce the other three cities from a possible eight remaining on a short list for next year’s league.

“Kingston is high on our list; it’s an amazing city; [Jamaica is] an amazing country and I think we would do really well to [host a meet] there,” Gera told the Jamaica Observer during a telephone interview Wednesday evening.

There has long been the view that Jamaica’s distinguished history in athletics, basic infrastructure, fervid spectator interest and robust sports and entertainment culture make it an attractive host country for major track meets.

“Jamaica has been an amazing competitor and has thrived off [track competitions] for generations.

“The cities in the countries that we are most focused on are ones that have got great stadiums that can highlight the unique nature of track. We’re also looking at locations that have great fans and amazing sports [culture] at the pro level but also at the grass roots,” the GST president explained.

“We are looking to focus on countries where some of our best athletes will end up actually coming from. And lastly, [countries which have] amazing cultures that can be showcased as a part of our storytelling, and Jamaica is obviously the sprint capital of the world, [and recognised as] such an amazing, rich culture,” Los Angeles-based Gera added.

The Observer has learnt that Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association President Garth Gayle has been instrumental in facilitating negotiations to have the National Stadium as a host venue. Attempts to contact Gayle were unsuccessful up to press time on Thursday as calls and messages to his mobile phone went unanswered.

The GST organisers’ interest in Jamaica was underlined recently by site visits to the National Stadium led by Don Lockerbie, venue director of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

The National Stadium, built over 60 years ago, has long been earmarked for major renovation. On Tuesday, the Jamaican Government announced that redevelopment work is to commence in 2025.

The running track and the lighting infrastructure at the venue are two major points of concern.

In March, overnight work on the track by the stadium’s operators Independence Park Limited, during the staging of the world-renowned high schools athletics championships, forced a significant delay on the fourth and penultimate day. The track was installed in 2010 and was renovated between 2020 and 2021.

Many deemed the National Stadium lights to have been woefully insufficient during the high school championships in March. The stadium venue was further placed under the microscope after lighting issues arose during World Cup football qualifiers and Concacaf men’s and women’s club matches.

Gera played down any major worry arising from his team’s visit to the National Stadium.

“We were able to ascertain the condition of the track and the condition of the stadium, and from our vantage point there are some things that we would need to do in order to make it show up on [live] television in a way that we’re envisioning.

“But all-in-all it’s a great facility with amazing foundational things about it, such as… it’s very beautiful. I can very easily envision at night hosting an amazing track crowd and an amazing track competition. So, there’s some real gold in there that we think is really interesting.

“The venue team has looked at a couple different things that we would need in order to get there in year one. It’s not a long list from our vantage point… at the end of the day, we’re really just excited about the potential,” he told the Observer.

Gera said talk of imminent redevelopment of the National Stadium is music to the ears of GST organisers.

“I’ve heard that the stadium is being considered for some different upgrades and renovations in the future — that would obviously be great for us. But first and foremost, it would be great for the country and everyone who currently uses the stadium.

“From what I hear, all the renovations that would happen would certainly be welcomed by any [entity] that wants to host an event at the National Stadium,” he said.

The Grand Slam Track concept is derived from sports like tennis and golf which each have four majors as part of an annual schedule.

GST organisers say they have secured US $30 million in financial commitments from investors. The combined prize money for next year’s league is projected to top US $12 million.

On Thursday, GST announced the addition of Jamaican rising sensation Ackera Nugent, the national women’s sprint hurdles record holder, and Roshawn Clarke, the World Under-20 men’s 400m hurdles record holder, to their star-studded line-up for the 2025 league. The GST will not feature any field event.

— Sanjay Myers