{"id":710,"date":"2025-05-27T10:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/defiancemagazine.co.uk\/?p=710"},"modified":"2025-06-02T01:11:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T00:11:31","slug":"tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"Track\u2019s New Gold Rush: How Grand Slam Track Is Making Underdogs Rich"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>$12.6m Grand Slam Track prize money is already changing athletes\u2019 lives. With Grand Slam Track\u2019s generous prize money distribution, one big performance can catapult an unsuspecting underdog into stardom and a fortune. Here\u2019s our breakdown of the financial gains available and who has profited so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The highest-level athletes are often seen for their passion and commitment. Athletes do all they can to achieve their goals: to make the Olympics, qualify in their heat, and make their country proud. Lucrative brand deals and sports sponsorships are only available for the handful at the top, but this may be changing through the Grand Slam Track.&nbsp;<br>The winner of each Slam group takes home $100,000, with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomson amongst the names who have already secured the jackpot. It\u2019s not just the best of the best who benefit, though, as the cash trickles down to the top eight per Slam.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Winner &#8211; $100,000 per slam<br>Runners Up &#8211; $50,000 per Slam<br>2nd Runners Up &#8211; $30,000 per Slam<br>3rd Runners Up &#8211; $25,000 per Slam<br>5th Place &#8211; $20,000 per Slam<br>6th Place &#8211; $15,000 per Slam<br>7th Place &#8211; $12,500 per Slam<br>8th Place &#8211; $10,000 per Slam<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It hasn\u2019t taken long for heartwarming stories to surface. Jacory Patterson earned $50,000 after finishing second in the long sprints category. He works at UPS, as he is not one of the few lucky enough to have secured a major shoe brand contract, and a successful day at the Slam earned him more than he earns a year at UPS. Dylan Beard, who balances a job at Walmart with a professional athletics career, has earned $65,000 over the first two Slams.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new hit event offers a more lucrative opportunity than the Diamond League, which has announced its intentions to increase its prize money. $500,000 is available at every season meeting, and $2.24m is handed out at the final.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To read more about Michael Johnson\u2019s new Grand Slam Track events, click <a href=\"https:\/\/defiancemagazine.co.uk\/2025\/05\/23\/grand-slam-track-where-to-watch-it-what-the-rules-are-whos-competing-and-more\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>$12.6m Grand Slam Track prize money is already changing athletes\u2019 lives. With Grand Slam Track\u2019s generous prize money distribution, one big performance can catapult an unsuspecting underdog into stardom and a fortune. Here\u2019s our breakdown of the financial gains available and who has profited so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[101,110,111,29],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-topic-cluster","tag-grand-slam-track","tag-michael-johnson","tag-money","tag-underdog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Grand Slam Track Is Making Underdogs Rich<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"$12.6m Grand Slam Track prize money is already changing athletes\u2019 lives. 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One big performance can catapult an underdog into stardom.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defiance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-27T09:06:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-02T00:11:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/05\/athlete-1840437_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dylan Sidhu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dylan Sidhu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dylan Sidhu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/#\/schema\/person\/4ccd36b7aa96ccfea94e41dc643ee923\"},\"headline\":\"Track\u2019s New Gold Rush: How Grand Slam Track Is Making Underdogs Rich\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-27T09:06:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-02T00:11:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/\"},\"wordCount\":340,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/05\/athlete-1840437_1280.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Grand Slam Track\",\"Michael Johnson\",\"money\",\"Underdog\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Topic Cluster\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/\",\"name\":\"How Grand Slam Track Is Making Underdogs Rich\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/2025\/05\/27\/tracks-new-gold-rush-how-grand-slam-track-is-making-underdogs-rich\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/05\/athlete-1840437_1280.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-27T09:06:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-02T00:11:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/defiancemag\/#\/schema\/person\/4ccd36b7aa96ccfea94e41dc643ee923\"},\"description\":\"$12.6m Grand Slam Track prize money is already changing athletes\u2019 lives. 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