By Chris Chavez
February 13, 2025
Grand Slam Track has announced its first six Challengers for its debut meet from April 4th to 6th at Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The first six Challengers are Hansle Parchment (Men’s Short Hurdles), Orlando Bennett (Men’s Short Hurdles), Danielle Williams (Women’s Short Hurdles), Shiann Salmon (Women’s Long Hurdles), Alana Reid (Women’s Short Sprints) and Malik James King (Men’s Long Hurdles).
As a refresher: Four Challengers will occupy four spots in each Slam’s race groupings against four Racers, who are contractually signed to the league’s four meets. Challengers are paid an appearance fee and can compete for the full prize money. Challenger spots are determined by recent performances, rivalries and what makes for compelling matchups.
Racers and Challengers will compete in one of six categories, each racing in two events per Slam: short sprints (100m/200m), short hurdles (100H or 110H/100m), long sprints (200m/400m), long hurdles (400H/400m), short distance (800m/1500m), or long distance (3000m/5000m). Final placement is based on combined finishing order, with ties decided by the fastest total time. Each Slam group winner earns $100,000, while 8th place receives $10,000.
The first six Challengers announced for Kingston are all Jamaican stars, who will likely receive a great reception from the fans at the National Stadium.
National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica
Here’s a scouting report on the Challengers entering the competition in Jamaica:
Hansle Parchment (Men’s Short Hurdles) | 100m PB: N/A , 110m hurdles PB: 12.93
The Tokyo Olympic champion looks to rebound after a winless 2024, where he failed to run faster than 13.19s before the Summer Games in Paris and then took eighth in the final with a 13.39 showing. He finished the year with a 13.18 season’s best, which was his slowest year since 2019. Parchment does not have a 100m personal best listed on his World Athletics profile but has run 21.53 for 200m in April 2023.
As to how he fares against the Racers in the 110m hurdles:
– Parchment (9) vs. Freddie Crittenden (4) but 0–5 against the American in 2024
– Parchment (10) vs. Daniel Roberts (7) but 2–7 against the American in 2024
– Parchment (3) vs. Sasha Zhoya (1)
– Parchment (10) vs. Devon Allen (4)
Hansle Parchment | Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
Shiann Salmon (Women’s Long Hurdles) | 400m PB: 51.22, 400m hurdles PB: 52.97
Salmon fared well at the National Stadium in 2024 by winning the Racer Grand Prix in early June and returning a few weeks later to run a personal best of 53.71 to qualify for her first Olympic team. She only continued to progress from there and got down to 53.13 in the semifinals at the Games before taking sixth in the final. She got her first Diamond League victory in Zurich with a personal best of 52.97, which moved her to No. 5 on the Jamaican all-time list.
Salmon has run 51.22 for the open 400m but was also part of the Jamaican quartet that took silver at the 2023 World Championships in the 4x400m relay.
As to how she fares against the Racers in the 400m hurdles:
– Salmon (0) vs. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (1)
– Salmon (0) vs. Jasmine Jones (1)
– Salmon (4) vs. Rushell Clayton (12)
– Salmon (4) vs. Shamier Little (4)
Shiann Salmon | Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
Alana Reid (Women’s Short Sprints) | 100m PB: 10.92, 200m PB: 22.95
Reid is regarded as one of Jamaica’s next big sprint stars and captured the 2024 World U20 100m title in Peru last August. She spent 2024 training under Dennis Mitchell, who also coaches reigning World champion and Olympic silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson and Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson, in Florida before moving to Arkansas to work with coach Lawrence Johnson for the upcoming season. Reid took fourth at last spring’s LA Grand Prix but the Kingston Slam will be her biggest test as a professional yet.
As to how she fares against the Racers in the 100m:
– Reid (0) vs. Gabby Thomas (0)
– Reid (0) vs. Melissa Jefferson (4)
– Reid (0) vs. Brittany Brown (0)
–Reid (0) vs. Daryll Neita (0)
Malik James-King (Men’s Long Hurdles) | 400m PB: 45.22, 400m Hurdles PB: 47.42
James-King may already be preparing for his Slam double since he opened up 2025 with a 47.18 last weekend in Kingston. Last year was his first time representing Jamaica individually at a global championships and he reached the 400m hurdles semifinal. One of his best showings of the year was a fourth place finish at the Monaco Diamond League, where he was behind the eventual Olympic podium of Rai Benjamin, Karsten Warholm and Alison Dos Santos. He also managed to beat Roshawn Clarke, one of the four Racers, to win the Jamaican Trials in a personal best of 47.42.
James-King’s flat 400m speed also can’t be discounted as he’s been part of Jamaican 4x400m relay squads in the past two years.
As to how he fares against the Racers in the 400m hurdles:
– James-King (0) vs. Alison Dos Santos (4)
– James-King (0) vs. Clément Ducos (1)
– James-King (2) vs. Roshawn Clarke (4)
– James-King (1) vs. Caleb Dean (0)
Orlando Bennett (Men’s Short Hurdles) | 100m PB: 10.54 , 110m hurdles PB: 13.09
The 25-year-old was just .05s ahead of Parchment in the Olympic final in Paris but had his best showing of the season with a 13.09 personal best in the semifinals. It was an improvement after just reaching the semifinals at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Bennett typically runs a few 100m races at the start of the year.
As to how he fares against the Racers in the 110m hurdles:
– Bennett (0) vs. Freddie Crittenden (5)
– Bennett (0) vs. Daniel Roberts (6)
– Bennett (3) vs. Sasha Zhoya (3)
– Bennett (0) vs. Devon Allen (2)
Note: Two spots remain for the Challengers in the Men’s Short Hurdles.
Danielle Williams (Women’s Short Hurdles) | 100m PB: 11.24 at altitude, 100m hurdles PB: 12.32
With the depth in the state of the women’s 100m hurdles, it was tough for the reigning World champion to get a spot as a Racer. Williams had an up-and-down year in 2024 and failed to record a win in the Diamond League and U.S. domestic racing circuit leading into the Paris Olympics. She did not make it out of the semifinals at the Paris Olympics. Still, she salvaged her season by running a 12.37 season’s best at the Silesia Diamond League in August and took fifth in the Diamond League final. She has not run an open 100m since 2017.
As to how she fares against the Racers in the 100m hurdles:
– Williams (7) vs. Masai Russell (3)
– Williams (4) vs. Cyrena Samba Mayela (3)
– Williams (3) vs. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (15)
– Williams (2) vs. Ackera Nugent (7)
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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 on Feb. 15th, 2025 finally broke five minutes for the mile.
