Sprint great Michael Johnson launching 'Grand Slam Track' league

Sprinting great Michael Johnson is launching a track league that looks to assemble nearly 100 of the sport's top performers four times a year to compete for $12.6 million in prize money over its first season.

The league, Grand Slam Track, announced Tuesday that it will launch next April with plans for one event in Los Angeles, the home of the 2028 Olympics, one in another American city and two more overseas.

The league also announced it had signed world-record hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, lending star power to the new operation almost a year before it opens.

Johnson, who wore his famous golden spikes at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while setting the world record at 200 metres to complete the 200-400 sweep, has long echoed critics in the sport who complain they don't see enough marquee head-to-head matchups. That's in part because there's not enough financial incentive to bring the best to the same meets.

"It's providing the fans and the athletes what they've been asking for," Johnson said. "I think there's a real opportunity here. They're frustrated at an all-time level with the sport, at the elite level, the way it's been over the last couple of years where they're not compensated and recognized for their tremendous talent."

Track's yearly schedule is a moving target, highlighted by world championships in odd years and the Olympics every four seasons. In between, the sport is a series of individual meets highlighted by the Diamond League, which conducts around 15 competitions each season and allows athletes to earn points and win a season-long title.

WATCH | Sherika Jackson claims the 200m Diamond League title in Stockholm: 

As a sign of the sport's struggles, NBC, which televises the Olympics, did not renew its