CNN
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Michael Johnson wants to make one thing clear: track doesn’t need saving. But he does think it needs improving.

For Johnson and many others, we are reminded of the sport’s potential once every four years when, for a brief, two-week window, athletes compete for status and legacy at the Summer Olympic Games.

In that moment, track and field is suddenly the most popular show on the planet, the short-lived center of the sporting universe. It’s what happens over the next four years that the sprinter-turned-commissioner has concerns about.

“That’s the void that has existed in the sport,” Johnson tells CNN Sports’ Amanda Davies, “and we’re filling it with Grand Slam Track.”

Spearheaded by the four-time Olympic champion, Grand Slam Track hosts its inaugural event in Kingston, Jamaica on Friday – the first of four meets taking place across the next three months.

The league has attracted some of the biggest names in the sport, including American Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Cole Hocker and Quincy Hall.

Athletes signing up for Grand Slam Track have been promised regular, meaningful races against their fiercest rivals, as well as more prize money than the sport has ever offered before.

The 48 racers contracted by the league each receive an annual base salary for competing in the four meets over the course of the season, while $12.6 million in prize money is also on offer. That ranges from $100,000 for winning a slam to $10,000 for placing last.

By contrast, in the Diamond League – the sport’s established annual series of track and field meets – athletes receive $10,000 for winning an event and $1,000 for placing eighth.

“Most of the athletes suffer greatly because they aren’t able to realize any value,” says Johnson, best remembered for winning 200-meter and 400-meter gold medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

“Those athletes end up in situations where, many years later, and sometimes even in their careers, they’re wondering: ‘Should I have made this choice? I love this sport, but I’m suffering financially, I’m suffering mentally trying to make a living in this sport. I’m having to rely on friends and family to help.’”

The debut Grand Slam Track season will see 48 contracted racers, who are among the world’s top athletes, and 48 challengers, selected on an event-by-event basis, competing in six event groups: short and long sprints, short and long hurdles, and short and long distance.

Each athlete is assigned to an event group and will compete in two disciplines at every meet. Short sprinters, for example, will race in the 100 and 200 meters, and long sprinters in the 200 and 400 meters.

Points are earned based on an athlete’s finishing position in a race, and whoever has the most points across the two races at a meet is crowned the winner of an event group.

“That creates some significant narratives and jeopardy, which is what fans told us they want,” says Johnson. “They want to see the athletes more. They also want to see some jeopardy and some stakes.”

With the contracted racers guaranteed to appear at every event, Grand Slam Track hopes to showcase the sport’s top athletes more regularly, beyond the Olympics and the biennial World Athletics Championships. But there are significant absentees from the roster, including the likes of Sha’Carri Richardson, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Karsten Warholm and Femke Bol.

Notably, the two reigning Olympic 100m champions – Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred – have not signed up, and the league only features track – and not field – disciplines, meaning there is no place for superstar pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis.

However, those who have joined are encouraged by the league’s approach, particularly when it comes to compensating athletes.

“I’ve never had a base salary from a series of races before, that’s entirely novel,” American distance runner Grant Fisher tells CNN Sports. “For distance runners and for sprinters, pretty much anyone in track, your main source of income is from a shoe company – that’d be your main sponsor.

“You might get an appearance fee at a race here and there, but unless you’re a superstar, you’re probably not getting money to show up places. Whereas with Grand Slam, you have an incentive to show up, and then you have a huge incentive to race well. The prize purse is unlike anything this sport has ever seen … It’s a massive shift.”

Fisher, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist who recently broke two indoor world records, will compete in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters – the long distance event group – as a contracted racer at this season’s four meets.

He won’t be up against all his big rivals, such as two-time Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen, but still feels that Grand Slam Track is the platform he needs to elevate his career.

“I want to race the best guys as often as possible, and I want to be the best runner in the world,” says Fisher. “In order to have that title, I need to beat the best guys in the world consistently.

“It’s a cool format, it’s new. It gives fans something to follow with continuity, and I’m excited to be part of it. When they approached me, probably not great negotiation tactics, but I was kind of already sold on joining … They really didn’t have to win me over too much.”

This season’s races will be broadcast in 189 countries and territories, with Peacock and The CW serving as broadcasters in the US, Eurosport in Europe and Asia, and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland. Both Eurosport and TNT Sports are sister companies of CNN under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella.

Inside Kingston’s National Stadium, the track has already been painted in the green, yellow and black of Jamaica’s flag in anticipation of the league’s opening event. The next three meets will be in the US – Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles – which Johnson says will serve a huge market for track and field, though one with few elite races to show for it.

The 57-year-old insists that Grand Slam Track is not trying to usurp the likes of World Athletics, the sport’s global governing, and the Diamond League, which holds most of its events in Europe.

“We’re a different product,” he says, adding that he has “a great relationship” with World Athletics and its president, Sebastian Coe. In turn, Coe has welcomed Johnson’s league, taking comfort in the “luster” and “investment” being injected into the sport.

Grand Slam Track only has plans to grow and, according to Johnson, has been contacted by cities interested in hosting future meets. “This is a journey for us, and we’re in it for the long haul,” he says. “We’re not going anywhere.”

For athletes like Fisher, who faces the demanding prospect of racing two distance events in three days this week, Grand Slam Track will ostensibly feel the same as other races he has competed in, and his targets for the season-opener in Kingston are simple.

“The only goal is to win,” he says. “If I can consistently win these Slams, then that’s a really good sign for where I am in my career.”

CNN
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Four women’s soccer players from Zambia have been removed from the national team ahead of upcoming internationals due to added challenges entering the United States.

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) announced on Wednesday that captain Barbra Banda, Racheal Kundananji, Prisca Chilufya and Grace Chanda, all of whom play for clubs in the US, won’t be traveling to China for the Yangchuan International Tournament.

Travel to and from the US has become more difficult under the Trump administration with reports of detentions and visas being revoked for those entering the country.

The FAZ said that the decision to exclude the quartet from upcoming games owed to “additional travel measures” being introduced by the new administration.

“I wish to confirm that the Orlando Pride trio of Barbra Banda, Grace Chanda and Prisca Chilufya as well as Rachael Kundananji of Bay FC will not be available for the two international friendly matches in China,” general secretary Reuben Kamanga said in the announcement from FAZ.

“After working through the process instigated by recently introduced measures it was decided that it is in the best interest of our players to skip this assignment.

“They will definitely be available for future assignments as they were for the last window when we played Malawi. The technical bench has since roped in replacements to ensure that the team remains competitive.”

Kamanga added that the decision was made after receiving advice from the United States of America Zambian mission in Washington, as well as Orlando Pride and Bay FC.

Zambia’s women’s national team, nicknamed the Copper Queens, will face Thailand at the Yangchuan International Tournament in Chongqing, China on April 5. A win would see them face either the host nation or Uzbekistan in the final on April 8.

CNN
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Max Verstappen said that it “was not a mistake” that he liked an Instagram post criticizing Red Bull’s decision to swap Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the new Formula One season.

After a disappointing start to the year, Lawson was replaced at Red Bull by the Japanese fan favorite, with the Kiwi driver filling Tsunoda’s seat at Racing Bulls, Red Bull’s developmental team.

Lawson later said he was “surprised” by the demotion as the early move to shuffle the pack at Red Bull led to questions about the team’s decision-making.

In the days after the swap, Verstappen’s official Instagram page liked a post from former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde which criticized Red Bull’s decision, saying he was “getting a bit tired of all the comments that F1 is the toughest sport in terms of performances and when you’re underdeliver you’ve gotta face the consequences.”

“Yes, you gotta perform. Yes, the pressure is insane. But in my opinion this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements,” van der Garde wrote. “They made a decision – fully aware – gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit.

“Don’t forget the dedication, hard work and success Liam has put in his career so far to achieve the level where he is now. Yes, he underperformed the first two races – but if anyone’s aware of that it’s himself.”

And ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen admitted that his liking of the post was no accident.

“I liked the comment, the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake,” Verstappen said, per Sky Sports, adding that he’s spoken to Lawson since the move was made.

According to Sky Sports, the four-time drivers’ champion declined to elaborate on his feelings regarding the swap, saying that he and his team have had discussions since the move was made.

“My reaction was shared with the team but in general, about not only the swap, but about everything. We discussed that already during last weekend and back at the factory,” he said in Suzuka, per Sky Sports.

“Everything has been shared with the team, how I think about everything. Sometimes, it’s not necessary to always share everything in public. I think it’s better.”

Through two races of the 2025 F1 season, Verstappen sits second in the drivers’ championship standings, eight points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Lawson had failed to register to a point in his two races, while Tsunoda has three from his Racing Bulls performances before he makes his Red Bull debut at his home grand prix in Japan.

Tsunoda called it the “best situation ever” to be suiting up for Red Bull in front of his home crowd and acknowledged he’s “dreaming” for his first ever F1 podium in Japan.

As for what Red Bull team principal Christan Horner has told him in terms of his expectations, Tsunoda was clear about where the team’s priorities lie.

“Basically be (as) close to Max as possible, which anyway gives a good result for the team (and) also allows the team to support as a strategy as well in the race,” the 24-year-old told reporters.

“They clearly said the main priority is Max, which I completely understand because he’s a four-time world champion, and so far already (during) the last few races, even in the car’s difficult situation, he’s still performed well.

“(The expectation is) to be close as much as possible to Max, also help the development as well with my feedback – (they) seem very happy with my feedback I gave in Abu Dhabi (during the postseason test), so just continue that. But I think for now the main priority is to be closest to (Max), which won’t be easy, for sure.”