In its aborted season, Grand Slam Track squandered athletes's most precious resource — time

If you spent the early summer struggling to reconcile Grand Slam Track's purported startup with recurring reports of unpaid bills, it's understandable.

Last year the upstart athletics league fronted by legendary sprinter Michael Johnson claimed to have $30 million US in funding, with more than $12 million devoted to prize money for an impressive list of competitors. But this year we saw GST downsize one event and cancel its season finale outright, while learning that they owed money to athletes and vendors, and even to the city of Miramar, Fla., which hosted a Grand Slam event in May. 

Nobody with pockets that deep should have a list of creditors that long, and before we even ask whether the circuit can regroup for a year two, another question comes to mind.

What happened to all that money?

Thanks to The Athletic, we now have some answers.

A feature published last week by the New York Times' sports vertical revealed that GST never actually had $30 million in its possession. According to the piece, the $30 million figure included a $19 million pledge from Eldridge, an asset management firm whose investment hinged on their satisfaction with GST's inaugural event, which took place in Kingston, Jamaica the first weekend of April. The piece explains that underwhelming attendance at the Kingston meet prompted Eldridge to move on.

“Babe, there was no money.”