Facing financial strain, Michael Johnson’s GST, through its newly appointed insolvency firm Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Golubchik LLP, issued letters to vendors demanding they accept 50% of the league’s outstanding dues or risk GST filing for bankruptcy protection. The ultimatum stunned small vendors as well as the athletes who helped the league. However, before any consent was secured, World Athletics released its own statement, intensifying the fallout.

With nearly $19 million in debt, GST’s administrators recently issued letters to vendors proposing a 50% settlement, asking them to provide consent by December 5 to avoid the league entering bankruptcy protection. GST aims to return next season and is taking every measure to stay afloat. But as the letters reached vendors and athletes, World Athletics intervened, halting the proposed payment clause.

The international governing body for athletics has stepped in, ordering the league to clear all outstanding athlete payments after rejecting Michael Johnson’s GST proposal. World Athletics made its stance clear: the debt must be paid in full, no exceptions. This is not the first time the governing body has made these statements.

Back in July, when Grand Slam Track’s insolvency concerns first surfaced, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said they were monitoring the situation closely and would step in when necessary.

“It’s not good. The one thing that World Athletics has always stood strongly behind is the athletes. So yeah, this is not a good situation. It’s a startup, but the athletes do need to be paid. For these things to work, they can’t be vanity projects. They have to be suffused in practicality and deliverability. I just want the events that are going to add luster, that we can find space for, and we will encourage them to at least have the courtesy of spending that kind of time and that kind of effort, both intellectual and resource, in making sure they work.”

Many athletes are yet to receive any substantial payment from the league. Take Great Britain’s 1500 star Josh Kerr as an example; the standout athlete is yet to receive 50 percent of what he has earned in prize money and appearance fees. And let us remind you that he is not the only one. Gabby Thomas, Grant Fisher, Matthew Hudson-Smith, and many more have yet to get their dollars.

Last month, through the administration, Grand Slam Track notified the athletes that they would be paid “50 percent of the total appearance and prize money earned at this year’s Slams”. But despite the announcement, none of the athletes has yet to see a single dime. That’s not all, Grand Slam track also owes at least $30,000 for licensing rights to the World Athletics. It’s not just the athletes who are dealing with the fallout — even the vendors were caught off guard.

The vendors feel taken advantage of after Michael Johnson’s new notice

As per the letters, December 5 was set as the deadline for vendors to accept the 50% payment clause; otherwise, Grand Slam Track would file for bankruptcy protection. The notice came as a shock, especially to vendors who had been expecting full payment from the league.

Speaking to the Athletics,  Matt Gordon, the owner and principal designer of Eastern Lighting Design, a company that worked with the GST, expressed that he was not given any intimation about the financial difficulties that the league was facing.

“It really wasn’t until the plug was pulled on LA that we were aware that there were problems. It’s extremely unfortunate that Grand Slam Track pulled in such a world-class group of production entities, only to have things unfold this way.”

“It’s likely that without the high level of production vendors involved, they would not have been able to pull off such a polished event in the limited amount of time. Ultimately, I feel, at least speaking for Eastern Lighting Design, that we were taken advantage of.”

Some of the financially stable vendors in conversation with the Athletics expressed that they are ready to absorb the losses. However, some of them are preparing to take legal action against the league. While others argued that it is unfair for the league to move ahead with the new season while last year’s payments are yet to be made.