In August, Michael Johnson addressed the uncertain future of his ambitious Grand Slam Track project in an episode of the Ready Set Go podcast. With funding hurdles and sustainability questions looming, the hosts asked if Reddit co-founder and Athlos owner Alexis Ohanian might step in to help. Johnson’s confident response set the stage for a surprising twist in the growing Athlos-GST dynamic. Two months later, Alexis Ohanian finally responded.  

On October 10, Ohanian appeared on the episode of the Ready Set Go podcast. During the interview, host Rodney Green decided to confirm if Ohanian would actually help Johnson save the GST. The Athlos owner pointed out, “The premise of the question is interesting.” He claimed that if he were in trouble, he’d directly make the calls for help. But he admitted that Michael Johnson is an “absolute legend.” But would he acquire the GST and help the legend? Well, not really… 

Alexis Ohanian revisited his days at the Reddit office. There was a time when their competitors wanted to get acquired. But there was a small but major hurdle. Different organizations have different people and different cultures. When it comes to GST, he stated, “You’re not just acquiring, you know, the brand or the contracts, whatever the assets that they have at Grand Slam. You’re also bringing in the culture. And you’re bringing in the team. And I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything about the team. I don’t know anything about the culture.”

For Ohanian, building a strong culture was the most important thing for running an organization. And for that, he has to know all about the people and the culture. Ohanian doesn’t really crave an empire with hundreds of employees. He’d rather have a small team of experts where no one can hide and everyone can trust each other. That’s exactly what Athlos is doing. He stated, “It’s not as simple as just saying, ‘Hey, let’s acquire this asset.’ Because you’re acquiring people, you’re acquiring culture, you’re acquiring a way of doing things. And I just also know we are so unique in the way that we are structured.” 

So, where does that put him in the list of entities that might acquire Grand Slam Track? Well, he doesn’t really exist in the list. He claimed, “It’s just built in a different way.” The mechanics of Athlos and GST are very different, and even if he acquired the Grand Slam Track, there’s no guarantee that it’d succeed.

On the other hand, not just Michael Johnson, but Noah Lyles also wanted the two organizations to unite. 

Noah Lyles once wanted Michael Johnson and Alexis Ohanian to shake hands

Not too long ago, ‘Nojo18’ made a statement involving Ohanian and Johnson while speaking with Benjamin and Holloway on their podcast Beyond the Records. “I was talking to a few people about how great it would be if you know Alexis and Michael and even World Athletics or the Diamond League got together and say, hey let’s pull our money together and make something that the world has never seen,” Lyles said.

According to him, the impact of the union was far more important than the ego. He continued, “You know what’s $30 million if you can double that and then triple that… and then create an event like that.”

But now, all of that has gone down the slope. With the GST’s final meet in Los Angeles cancelled, the athletes were left in utter frustration. It wasn’t just the lost opportunity that troubled them. But the delayed pay that initially seemed to have no guarantee of appearing in their banks. Nevertheless, Michael Johnson still managed to pay many of them. And despite that, he’s still short of the millions that he owes the athletes. But hope is still alive. That means fans might see some improvements if he returns with the GST in the next season.