Michael Johnson has admitted at being pleasantly surprised by Emmanuel Wanyonyi's performances at the inagural Grand Slam Track in Kingston, tipping him to become the male MVP.
American sprint legend Michael Johnson has admitted at being proven wrong by Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s capabilities following his dominating displays in the inaugural Grand Slam Track held in Kingston, Jamaica last weekend.
Wanyonyi took home the overall short distance title after finishing second in the 800 meters and first in the 1500 meters, a race clocked 3.35.18 to claim an emphatic win ahead of American duo Yared Nuguse (3.35.36) and Cole Hocker (3.35.52).
British stars Neil Gourley (3.35.60) and World champion Josh Kerr (3.35.61) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
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Heading into the event, not many people were talking about him, even being the Olympic 800 meters champion, so for him to walk away with the title especially after flooring all three Olympic medalists in the 1500 meters - which is not even his favorite event - was impressive.
“You guys aren’t talking about me? You will be.”
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Speaking to CITIUS MAG, Johnson admitted at being pleasantly surprised by the 20-year-old’s performances.
“Love watching him in action. Okay, I'll give you a name—it’s crazy, even our challenges are amazing. Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
“I mean, his performance over both events... he comes in here as the Olympic champion in the 800, goes into the 1500 meters unafraid and puts on a show. That’s our trash talk group—they’re good at it—and he was like, ‘You know what? Okay, you guys aren't talking about me? You will be.’
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“And he did it. And those guys were all like, ‘Great game.’ That’s how it is. That’s how it should be.”
The 20-year-old Kenyan has shown hints of his range and endurance in recent years.
He even briefly held the world road mile record (3:54.6) in Germany in 2024 and clinched gold in the mixed relay at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships.
Johnson: Grand Slam Track has only just begun
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Meanwhile, Johnson believes Grand Slam Track is destined to get better following the considerable success witnessed in the Pilot event.
“ They’re all having fun, they’re enjoying it, and they’re going to come back like, ‘Okay, you got us that time—but we'll see you in Miami.’”
“I think you can expect more of this. Now that people have seen it, now that the athletes have been through the process, it's familiar. So I think you'll see even more engagement from fans. They understand the format, they’ve seen it.
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“ I think you’ll see more from the athletes—better performances even—because this league has a tremendous amount of parity. They're all the best in the world, so you're not going to see the same person winning every single time.”
Even Sydney will have to work for it
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Johnson also believes that unbeatable athletes, such as the indomitable Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, will face challenges like she has never faced before as a signed-up Grand Slam Track athlete.
“ I don't think you're going to see Sydney win every single time—and that's saying a lot, right? That’s saying a lot.
“Right now, every one of those athletes, I tell them that, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, you can say that, but I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do.’ Right? Sydney says she's going to win every single time. And she should—they all say it.”
With Wanyonyi’s coming-of-age performance as a benchmark and stars like McLaughlin-Levrone ready to face elite competition more frequently, Grand Slam Track may just be the spark that propels track and field into a new era of unpredictability and excitement.