By Chris Chavez
December 10, 2024
Alexis Holmes, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4x400m and 2024 400m World Indoor Championship bronze medalist, has signed on to join Grand Slam Track as a Racer ahead of the professional track league’s inaugural season in 2025.
Here’s what you need to know:
– Holmes will be part of the women’s long sprints group that will contest the 200m and 400m at each of the four Slams in Kingston, Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The group already includes Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino and Olympic silver medalist Salwa Eid-Naser.
– Each athlete will receive points for their finishing position in the two races. After the two events, the athlete with the highest point total will win the Slam and the $100,000 prize for first place.
– 2024 was a long but massively successful season for Holmes. She started competing in February, won the U.S. indoor 400m title and then went on to claim her first individual medal at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow with an indoor personal best of 50.24. She carried the momentum into the outdoor season and set personal bests in the 400m at the U.S. Olympic Trials semifinals and final, where she finished third in 49.78 to qualify for her first Olympic team. In Paris, she finished sixth in the 400m Olympic final and lowered her personal best to 49.77.
– Holmes is also one of the United States’ most dependable relay legs and was part of the team that won the women’s 4x400m at the World Relays in May. She was also the anchor leg of the United States’ gold medal-winning team in the women’s 4x400m relay final. Holmes split 48.78s. The squad comprised of Shamier Little (49.48), Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (47.71), Gabby Thomas (49.30) and Holmes collectively ran 3:15.27 for the American record and the second-fastest women’s 4x400m relay of all-time.
– Holmes boasts a personal best of 23.09 for 200 meters.
Kevin Morris / @KevMoFoto
CITIUS MAG’s Anderson Emerole had the chance to speak with Holmes to reflect on her 2024 season and her reaction to signing with Grand Slam Track in 2025. The following has been edited lightly for clarity and space.
CITIUS MAG: It’s been four months since the Olympics. Have the feelings sunk in that you’re an Olympic champion?
ALEXIS HOLMES: It’s definitely sunk in but there’s always that surreal feeling still when I say, ‘Am I really an Olympic gold medalist?’ The weight of that is pretty cool.
CITIUS MAG: Looking ahead to 2025, you’re signing on as a Racer with Grand Slam Track. What made you want to be part of this?
HOLMES: Of course, I’ve been seeing all of the social media posts since it first came out and I knew I wanted to be a part of that. I always say I’m a very competitive person who is up for a challenge so when I heard that it was going to be “the best of the best” I’m like, ‘Yeah, I want to do that too.’ So I was really excited when the opportunity presented itself.
CITIUS MAG: In 2024, you competed against the best in the world. (In the 400m), it felt like it was the entire year.
HOLMES: Every race was the Olympic final. (Laughs)
CITIUS MAG: In Grand Slam Track, you’re going to be able to do that again against the same ladies. It seems like you thrive off that competition.
HOLMES: For any great performance, you have to have great competitors, that’s that mutual respect among us as women. You push me, I push you. That’s when those standout performances happen. I’m really excited to see where it goes.
CITIUS MAG: You’ve been able to travel and race all around the world. Do any of the four Slam locations stand out to you on your calendar?
HOLMES: I’m really excited about Kingston. Running in Jamaica last year was a lot of fun and they really welcomed me. I’m excited about the energy out there. They take track seriously.
CITIUS MAG: You’re one of the best in the world in the 400m but now you’re dipping into the 200m. You’ve touched on it a few times in your career but what’s the approach to the double?
HOLMES: I’m very optimistic about that. Speed has always been – I don’t want to say a ‘weakness’ - but it’s been something I’ve needed to improve on. I’m interested to see how that’s going to help my 400m as well by incorporating more speed training.
CITIUS MAG: I don’t think you’ve broken 22 seconds yet in the 200.
HOLMES: I haven’t but I also don’t know how many I’ve done since turning pro. It might be like one or two. Usually, it’s just early in the season and we haven’t trained for it. That’s why I’m excited for this year if we incorporate pure speed training and run a lot more 200s, it should improve the 400m.
CITIUS MAG: You started your 2024 season in February, went to World Indoors and competed at World Relays and the the Olympics. You did the Diamond League final. You participated in Athlos. You basically did everything.
HOLMES: Honestly, we didn’t even plan on doing indoors last year. We just fell into it and ran a few meets here in Arkansas. I felt like I was in good enough race shape. I talked to my coach and asked, ‘Should we go to trials?’ He said, ‘You want to go to trials?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ We just went with it and I ended up getting the medal, which was cool and my first individual medal on the world stage. It definitely made me feel excited to carry that into outdoors. We’re in that same space right now where we’re not sure about indoor yet. God willing if I’m healthy and I’m running well, I don’t see why not! I’m never afraid to compete. That’s what I love to do. I embrace it.
CITIUS MAG: Was it a bit of a shock to come away with a medal when you weren’t even preparing for it?
HOLMES: Yes and no. I knew going into it that I wanted to win. That was the ultimate goal. I wasn’t shocked when I got a medal. It was cool to have my first individual. I’m really looking forward to when I really have my own gold medal moment in the individual 400m because I know that’s going to hit differently. That’s what I’m chasing right now.
CITIUS MAG: Can you describe what it was like to then go on to qualify for your first individual team at the Trials?
HOLMES: It felt like my hard work paid off. My first year as a pro, 2023, was a bit of a struggle trying to adjust to the training, strength training and how different things were from college. I had a few strains and things that set me back. I was just trying to get my feet back under me. Going into the U.S. Olympic Trials, I just had extra confidence. I still watch that race back a lot. I’m like, ‘Dang girl, you were in fifth place!’ I just had this moment where I was coming off the last turn and said, ‘It’s now or never.’ I just turned on my boosters and thankfully I had a little something left. I’m glad that it all worked out.
I don’t even remember the first part of the race. I just remember having a realization that you either go right now or you might never have this chance again.
CITIUS MAG: And then at the Olympics, you go on to run a personal best in the final.
HOLMES: I was beating myself up so badly after the final. I wanted to win and I was a little bit discouraged. Then I was like, ‘Girl, you ran a personal best out of lane 9 in your first Olympic final and you’re top 8 in the world.’ I just learned to give myself grace and really look at the whole picture.
CITIUS MAG: When we look at the team that ended up running for Team USA in the 4x400m final, you were the youngest member of the squad. How did conversations go with the coaches when they told you that you would be the anchor in the Olympic final?
HOLMES: Me and coach (Mechelle Freeman) are locked in. She knows if there’s a job to be done, I am going to get it done to the best of my abilities. We didn’t know the order until the morning of. I don’t know if she texted or called me but we talked that morning and she was like, ‘Lex, I need you to anchor.’ I just said, ‘OK.’ I’ve been an athlete my whole life in basketball, volleyball and track so I’ve had a lot of moments where I’m a captain or I have a team depending on me. I’m used to being in those positions. Sometimes that brings the best out of me. I wasn’t nervous about anchoring. I had faith in the group of women that we assembled that we were going to get the job done.
CITIUS MAG: Have you had a chance to reflect on how far you’ve come in such a short span of time?
HOLMES: Yes. Absolutely. I have it in my bio on Instagram – “Just a girl from Connecticut🎀…” because that’s genuinely how I feel. It’s weird when people tell me know that I’m famous or a star. Am I? I’m still just little ol’ me. I’m definitely proud of myself for how far I’ve come. I’ve inspired my family, which is near and dear to my heart. That just means everything to me.
Who Else Has Signed With Grand Slam Track So Far:
– Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (June 18th)
– Josh Kerr (June 27th)
– Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse (Sept. 4th)
– Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek (Sept. 12th)
– Melissa Jefferson (Sept. 19th)
– Masai Russell, Cyrena Samba Mayela and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Sept. 25th)
– Alison Dos Santos and Clément Ducos (Sept. 26th)
– Muzala Samukonga (Sept. 26th)
– Quincy Hall and Matthew Hudson-Smith (Oct. 10th)
– Nikki Hiltz (Oct. 15th)
– Grant Fisher and Ronald Kwemoi (Oct. 15th)
– Roshawn Clarke and Ackera Nugent (Oct. 17th)
– Luis Grijalva (Oct. 22nd)
– Shamier Little, Jasmine Jones and Rushell Clayton (Oct. 22nd)
– Jessica Hull (Oct. 22nd)
– Devon Allen and Daniel Roberts (Oct. 22nd)
– Marileidy Paulino (Oct. 22nd)
– Jereem Richards (Oct. 22nd)
– Marco Arop (Oct. 22nd)
– Tsigie Gebreselama and Agnes Ngetich (Oct. 22nd)
– Salwa Eid Naser (Nov. 21st)
– Elise Cranny and Nozomi Tanaka (Nov. 21st)
– Mary Moraa (Nov. 21st)
– Daryll Neita (Nov. 21st)
– Gabby Thomas (Nov. 26th)
___________________
Keep up with all things track and field by following us across Instagram, X, Bluesky, Threads, and YouTube. Catch the latest episodes of the CITIUS MAG Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For more, subscribe to The Lap Count and CITIUS MAG Newsletter for the top running news delivered straight to your inbox.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
