PHILADELPHIA, PA – As momentum from a sold-out Miami Slam echoes throughout the observe and subject world, Grand Slam Observe, the ground-breaking skilled league launched by four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson, units its sights on Franklin Discipline for its subsequent epic installment: the Philadelphia Slam, scheduled for Might 30–June 1.
With 12 extra Slam Champions to be topped—every claiming $100,000 and racing for world glory—the Philadelphia Slam guarantees to ship drama, rivalry, and velocity like by no means earlier than.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s skilled 100m debut to ignite the observe
The headline-grabbing announcement from Grand Slam Observe: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Slam Champion and Olympic icon, will step into uncharted territory by contesting the 100m hurdles professionally for the very first time.
Becoming a member of McLaughlin-Levrone within the Girls’s Brief Hurdles Race Group is a fierce line-up that ensures fireworks. Ackera Nugent, recent off her victory on the Miami Slam, and Danielle Williams, the reigning Kingston Slam Champion and two-time World Champion, full a historic first: three Slam Champions racing head-to-head in the identical occasion.
Including worldwide firepower is Swiss sensation Ditaji Kambundji, making her Grand Slam Observe debut. A rising drive on the world stage, Kambundji brings a resume that features a 2025 World Indoor silver medal (60mH) and 2024 European Championships silver (100mH).
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“We’re not simply watching races. We’re witnessing the evolution of observe and subject as a real skilled sport,” mentioned Grand Slam Observe CEO and visionary Michael Johnson.
Thomas vs. Jefferson-Wood: Rivalry renewed in brief sprints
In what guarantees to be one of many fiercest rematches of the season, Gabby Thomas and Melissa Jefferson-Wood will conflict once more within the Girls’s Brief Sprints Race Group. Their final showdown on the Miami Slam resulted in heartbreak for Thomas, who fell only one level brief (18–17) of the title.
Now, with the hearth of unfinished enterprise and the starvation for redemption, Thomas returns to Philadelphia aiming to assert her second Slam Championship. The Harvard-educated star beforehand seized the Girls’s Lengthy Sprints title in Kingston, proving she’s a contender throughout distances.
Males’s brief hurdles: Titans collide in worldwide showdown
The Males’s Brief Hurdles Race Group brings collectively 4 elite athletes from three nations in a race destined to shake the leaderboard.
Returning Slam Champion Trey Cunningham, silver medalist on the 2022 World Championships, will look to defend his crown in opposition to a formidable subject led by Cordell Tinch, the present world chief within the 110m hurdles (12.87).
Additionally making their Grand Slam Observe debuts are Europe’s elite: Jakub Szymański of Poland, the 2025 European Indoor gold medalist (60mH), and Lorenzo Simonelli of Italy, recent from sweeping gold within the 110m hurdles and 4x100m relay on the 2024 European Championships and incomes silver on the World Indoors.
International all-stars descend on Philadelphia
These newly introduced Challengers be part of an already electrical roster of 48 elite Racers competing in Philadelphia, together with:
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Kenny Bednarek, Melissa Jefferson-Wood, Grant Fisher, Sasha Zhoya, Marileidy Paulino, Salwa Eid Naser, Alison dos Santos, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Nikki Hiltz, Masai Russell, Alexis Holmes, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse, Josh Kerr, Indirect Seville, Ackera Nugent, Roshawn Clarke, Rushell Clayton, Nickisha Worth, Cyréna Samba-Mayela, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Jereem Richards, Ronald Kwemoi, Agnes Ngetich, Muzala Samukonga, Jess Hull, Marco Arop, and plenty of extra.
As anticipation builds, the Philadelphia Slam is shaping as much as be not only a sporting spectacle—however a cultural second redefining how observe and subject is seen, celebrated, and contested on a worldwide stage.
