Grand Slam Track’s week was already going badly. Then World Athletics stepped in and made it a whole lot worse.
According to The Times, the governing body has rejected GST’s proposal to pay just half of the money it owes for licensing rights, the same 50 percent offer the league has been pushing on vendors this week.
GST owes World Athletics roughly $40,000, and the response was straightforward: full payment, not a discounted exit ramp.
It’s a sharp blow at a moment when the league is trying to convince dozens of vendors to accept the same deal.
GST told them in an email this week that everyone must agree to the 50 percent payout by December 5 or the league may end up in bankruptcy court. That message, which came from the same insolvency firm now contacting creditors on GST’s behalf, was supposed to buy the league time and make it easier for an outside investor to take over.
But World Athletics isn’t playing along. And its refusal to settle is big.
The organization has been monitoring GST’s collapse since June, when the Los Angeles finale was abruptly canceled and the extent of the unpaid debts, more than $13 million in appearance fees and prize money, became impossible to ignore. Athletes began reaching out to the governing body for help after Kingston, Miami, and Philadelphia all came and went without full payouts.
GST founder Michael Johnson has blamed an investor who failed to follow through early in the season, starting with the Kingston opener that drew sparse crowds. It might explain how fast the financial floor fell out, but it doesn’t change the fact that athletes and vendors were left in the dark for months while the league continued to operate as if nothing was wrong.
What World Athletics’ refusal does now is set a tone.
If the governing body won’t accept half payment on a relatively modest invoice, smaller companies may decide they shouldn’t either.
The problem is that those smaller vendors don’t have the same power. They’re the ones who built the sets, moved the equipment, lit the tracks, and staffed the meets. They’re also the ones staring at unpaid bills that run far higher than World Athletics’ tab, and facing the real possibility that rejecting the deal could leave them with nothing.
GST has said that reducing debts is a necessary step for a potential buyer to come aboard for 2026. That buyer hasn’t been identified publicly, nor has there been any sign negotiations are beyond the “we’re thinking about it” stage.
So the pressure now shifts back to the vendors.
Agree to the 50 percent deal and hope the league gets salvaged, or hold out and risk being last in line if GST goes under. World Athletics made its decision quickly. Everyone else has less than two weeks to decide if they can afford to do the same.
If GST was hoping this week would bring some relief, the governing body’s stance has done the opposite. The clock is ticking, and the list of people willing to trust the league is getting shorter by the day.
