Purists might grumble about Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track league, but fans will still watch

If you're running an upstart sports league that hopes to vault itself past complacent incumbents, it helps to have a recognizable competitor to front the operation and grab sports fans' attention.

Grand Slam Track, the U.S. based circuit with plans to start competition in 2025 spent their backers' money wisely, trotting out Sydney McLaughlin at their introductory news conference this past Tuesday, and announcing the 400-metre hurdle world record holder as their league's first signee.

Track and field is the main event at every summer Olympics, but in North America, in non-Olympic years, it's like boxing, hockey and a long list of newcomers – a fringe sport with mainstream ambitions. Which is to say it's a sport that needs a face, and McLaughlin is a logical choice to brand this new venture.

As a 400m hurdler, she's the only woman in history to eclipse the 51-second barrier, and if she stuck to sprinting he'd be a threat to win the 400, and a longshot for the podium in the 200. She also boasts 1.1 million Instagram followers, which highlights her reach among young audiences, and helps explain why the league devoted an undisclosed, but presumably significant, sum of money to securing the 2021 Olympic gold medallist.

She's fast, visible, marketable and familiar.

Except a glance at the thumbnail photos teasing the videos populating Grand Slam Track's YouTube page feature a different face. It's Michael Johnson, the four-time Olympic champion who is the league's founder and commissioner. A great choice if the goal is to reel in middle-aged track nerds who remember the mid-to-late 1990s, when Johnson was untouchable in the 200 and 400, and held world records in both events.

But it's a curious move for an outfit whose stated goal