By Chris Chavez
September 25, 2024
Grand Slam Track has signed Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell, Olympic silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn as Racers ahead of the professional track league’s inaugural season in 2025.
Here’s what you need to know:
– This is the second full podium of medalists that have signed on to join Michael Johnson’s professional league after the Paris Olympic 1500m medalists were announced last month.
– Russell won the Olympic gold medal by dipping to victory in 12.33 – just 0.01 seconds ahead of Samba-Mayela. Russell ran 12.25 to win the U.S. Olympic Trials and moved into a tie for No. 5 on the all-time 100m hurdles list. She was also fourth in the 60m hurdles final at the World Indoor Championships in March. She is just 24 years old and one of America’s brightest talents in the hurdles.
– Samba-Mayela is one of the biggest breakout stars of 2024. Her silver medal was the only track and field medal by France at their home Olympics. The 23-year-old has a personal best of 12.98. She is the reigning European champion in the 100m hurdles and the 2022 World Indoor champion in the 60m hurdles.
– In Paris, Camacho-Quinn added her fourth career global championship 100m hurdles medal. She is just the sixth woman in history to earn multiple medals in the event at the Olympics. Her personal best remains 12.26 from the Tokyo Olympic final. She was a two-time NCAA champion at Kentucky and was just inducted into the Wildcats’ Hall of Fame this past weekend.
– Russell, Samba-Mayela and Camacho-Quinn will compete in the short hurdles category for Grand Slam Track, which means they will race the 100m hurdles and the 100 meters at each of the four Slams in 2025. They will receive points for their finishing position in each of the two races. The athlete with the highest point total after the two events will win the Slam and the $100,000 prize for first place.
– Camacho-Quinn has the fastest 100m personal best of the bunch with an 11.22 personal best from July 2020, which is also the Puerto Rican national record. She has not run an open 100m since 2020. She has a 200m personal best of 22.27 from March 2022. Samba-Mayela ran her personal best of 11.53 in May 2023. Russell has only one career 100m on her record with a 11.54 personal best from March 2022 when she was still a collegiate athlete at Kentucky.
– Camacho-Quinn and Samba-Mayela train under coach John Coghlan in Orlando, Florida.
Head-To-Head Battles
The women’s 100m hurdlers are among the track and field stars who are unafraid to race each other throughout the regular season.
– Russell and Camacho-Quinn have raced each other seven times in 2024. Russell’s lone win over Camacho-Quinn came in the Paris Olympic final.
– Russell has a 3–4 record against Samba-Mayela.
– Camacho-Quinn and Samba-Mayela have race each other nine times in their career, including eight in 2024. Camacho-Quinn holds a 6–3 head-to-head edge.
Kevin Morris/@KevMoFoto
One More Racer Spot Remains
Each Slam will feature four Racers and four Challengers. One Racer spot remains in the women’s short hurdles category.
Here’s a look at some of the possible athletes who could be contracted as a Racer for the inaugural season.
Ackera Nugent – As the league continues to push for “Only the Fastest” as its motto, the 22-year-old Jamaican star is the fastest woman of 2024 with a 12.24 personal best from the Rome Diamond League on Aug. 30th. At the Paris Olympics, she reached the finals but hit the first hurdle, was unable to recover, and crashed out of the race. Nugent runs the 100m more frequently than some other top hurdlers and boasts a personal best of 11.09 from 2021.
Tobi Amusan – In 2022, Amusan stunned the world by running 12.12 to shatter Keni Harrison’s world record by .08 seconds in the World Championship semifinal. She followed it up by winning her first global championship gold medal in the final. However, she has missed the podium at the last two championships and only managed to run a season’s best of 12.40 in 2024. She did not make the Olympic final. She has a 100m personal best of 11.10 from April 2023.
Grace Stark – She had one of the best stories of 2024 by coming back from a tibia plateau fracture that required surgery to win the NCAA 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles titles, took third at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal best of 12.31, fifth at the Paris Olympics and fourth in the Diamond League final. She has a 100m personal best of 11.38 but showcased her flat speed during the indoor season with a sixth place finish in the NCAA Indoor Championships 60m final.
Alaysha Johnson – The former Oregon Duck has been vocal about being an unsponsored athlete but can secure a solid payday as a contracted athlete for the league. In 2024, she ran a personal best of 12.31 in the U.S. Olympic Trials final for a runner-up finish and then finished seventh in the Olympic final in Paris.
Others to consider: USA’s Keni Harrison (12.20 PB); The Netherlands’ Nadine Visser (12.36 PB); USA’s Tonea Marshall (12.36 PB); Jamaica’s Danielle Williams (12.37)
Who Else Has Signed With Grand Slam Track Thus 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)
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.
