When Grand Slam Track filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2025, the track and field world froze. The ambitious league, launched by Olympic legend Michael Johnson, had collapsed after its first season. Millions went unpaid, from star athletes to production crews and even one news outlet. But while that news outlet got stuck in the crosshairs, another one escaped.

Marley Dickinson, senior writer at Canadian Running, shared the story on X: “In Oct 2023, I got a text from Kyle Merber asking if @CanadianRunning would be interested in breaking the Marco Arop signing to @GrandSlamTrack.” Kyle Merber, Grand Slam Track’s director of Athletes and Racing, was involved in the track media and partnership game.

Dickinson continued, “We said yes- pitched GST an announcement package. Then the morning of, we were undercut by @CitiusMag by 1-hour…”  Despite the agreement with Canadian Running, it was Citius Mag who announced Arop as part of GST’s “short distance” lineup, which included a number of other top middle-distance runners. Notably, Kyle Merber had previously worked for Citius Mag.

But in addition to losing out on GST coverage, Canadian Running also lost out on the $270,000 for the announcement that went to Citius Mag instead. But what appeared to be a loss at the time has instead turned into an unexpected boon.

Because now, Citius Mag is on the list of Grand Slam Track’s top creditors, which includes several top runners still waiting to be paid.

Dennis Young, news editor at FOS, recently shared the full list, and it shows Citius Mag is still owed over $270,000. That tiny timing error, which once felt like a minor loss in a media race, has now made Citius one of the league’s bigger non-athlete creditors.

Meanwhile, numerous track and field stars are also in the same boat, waiting to receive financial compensation from the league.

The athletes left in the lurch by Grand Slam Track, waiting for millions

Grand Slam Track, a running startup founded by Michael Johnson, has left millions of dollars in unpaid debts to vendors and athletes. And a recent court filing details the extent of that debt.

Right at the top of the list of creditors is Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who is owed $356,250, the highest amount of all athletes involved.

Gabby Thomas is owed $249,375, Kenny Bednarek $225,000, Josh Kerr $218,750, and Alison dos Santos and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden $190,625 each. The league had promised a $12.6 million prize pool in addition to base salaries for its top athletes, numbers that hadn’t been publicly reported until now. But the financial troubles became critical after Grand Slam canceled its fourth and final event in Los Angeles this summer.

The league racked up roughly $19 million in debt, $11 million owed to athletes and $8 million to vendors. Emergency funding from investors earlier in the fall covered part of the obligations, and in October, athletes received about $5.5 million, roughly half of what they were owed.

Vendors, meanwhile, largely rejected partial payment offers, leaving the league with little choice but to file for bankruptcy. Even some top athletes, like Thomas, have publicly expressed their frustration.

Gabby Thomas, noticing the league continuing to post promotional content of Grand Slam Track featuring her image despite unpaid balances, commented on an Instagram post: “So dope!! pls pay me 🥲” Her comment made waves online and showed the disappointment and frustration of the athletes who backed the league.