Grand Slam Track: Miami – Your Complete Preview, Matchups & Storylines To Watch

By Chris Chavez

Grand Slam Track will make its U.S. debut this weekend outside of Miami, Florida, at the Ansin Sports Complex. 

But first…a little bit of personal news tied to the meet.

This weekend, I will be joining the Grand Slam Track broadcast team for the Miami Slam and will serve as the distance analyst for the studio show. I am feeling incredibly honored to head down to Florida and join the world-class broadcast team for Grand Slam Track. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to share my insights and analysis on the world’s best athletes – on a stage that’s redefining the sport. A huge thanks to Grand Slam Track, Michael Johnson, The CW Sports and Peacock for the chance to be part of something this special. Can’t wait to bring this experience to the viewers!

For those still getting familiar with the league format, I highly recommend going back on Peacock and watching at least one day of competition from Kingston to get a general grasp for how the league works. 

In a nutshell, there are six event groups on both the men’s and women’s sides: short sprints (100m and 200m), short hurdles (100mH and 100m for men or 110mH and 100m for women), long sprints (200m/400m), long hurdles (400mH/400m), short distance (800m/1500m), and long distance (3000m/5000m). Each athlete races twice over the three days. And competitors earn points based on their placing, which will determine who walks away with the $100,000 prize for first place in each group. (For a longer explanation read here.)

How To Watch

For each of the four Slams, Friday’s action will be streamed on Peacock. Saturday and Sunday’s races will be broadcast on The CW and streamed on Peacock, as well.

Here is this weekend’s broadcast schedule:

• Friday, May 2nd (5 p.m. - 8 p.m. EDT) – Streaming on Peacock

• Saturday, May 3rd  (5 p.m. - 8 p.m. EDT) - Broadcast on The CW, Streaming on Peacock

• Sunday, May 4th  (3 p.m. - 6 p.m. EDT) - Broadcast on The CW, Streaming on Peacock

We’ve created a handy, shareable schedule that you can bookmark or screenshot on Instagram here. A live results link will be found here.

CITIUS MAG LIVE FROM MIAMI

CITIUS MAG’s crew—Chris Chavez, Eric Jenkins, Aisha Praught-Leer and Anderson Emerole—will bring you four shows from Miami. I will still be on our shows!

We’ll have a preview show on Thursday, where we’ll run through the upcoming race weekend. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday—similar to those who have tuned in for our daily World Championship and Olympics coverage—we’ll bring you our post-race analysis by unpacking results, insights from interviews with athletes and more from each day of competition.

To catch it all, be sure to subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel. We’ll also have all our shows available to stream or download on the CITIUS MAG Podcast feed on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you can listen to it on-the-go the next morning or on the run.

Here’s your comprehensive preview of what to watch for this weekend:

Men’s Short Sprints | Kenny Bednarek Has A Target On His Back

(100m on Saturday at 6:53 p.m. | 200m on Sunday at 5:21 p.m.)

Racers: 🇺🇸 Kenny Bednarek, 🇺🇸 Fred Kerley, 🇯🇲 Oblique Seville, 🇬🇧 Zharnel Hughes

Challengers: 🇨🇦 Andre De Grasse, 🇯🇲 Ackeem Blake, 🇨🇦 Jerome Blake, 🇿🇦 Benjamin Richardson

Kenny Bednarek is one of two Racers who swept their respective events at the Kingston Slam with victories in the 100m and 200m. He’s built for the Grand Slam league format. If anyone is going to stop him in Miami, they’re going to need to beat him in the 100m on Saturday or else they face a tall order against the two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200m on Sunday in his specialty event. 

Fred Kerley, who still holds a career 5–2 advantage over Bednarek in the 100m, could have a shot if he’s had a good month of training since Jamaica. He just raised eyebrows with a 44.73 400m (his first shot at this distance since March 2023), which maybe could benefit his 200m as well.

Of the Challengers, Tokyo Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse is the most accomplished but his compatriot Jerome Blake may be the Canadian to watch, having run some good races in the past month in Florida. With two Americans, two Canadians, and two Jamaicans, we’ve got a classic sprints rivalry on our hands.

Women’s Short Sprints | Gabby Thomas Drops Back Down

(100m on Friday at 6:52 p.m. | 100m on Saturday at 7:21 p.m.)

Racers: 🇺🇸 Gabby Thomas, 🇺🇸 Brittany Brown, 🇬🇧 Daryll Neita, 🇺🇸 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden 

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Tamari Davis, 🇺🇸 Jacious Sears, 🇳🇬 Favour Ofili, 🇺🇸 Kayla White

We have our first-ever Slam champion duel! Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas moved up to the long sprints group in Jamaica and came away with a 22.62 victory in the 200m and a 49.14 third place showing but a personal best of 49.124 in the 400m to earn the $100,000 check. 100m Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden swept the short sprint races in very windy conditions. Add in 200m Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown, who missed Kingston, and this field is strong. (In our Kingston preview, we wrote about how Brown is well suited for Grand Slam’s double and reminded people she earned $85,000 for similar work at Athlos NYC.) How high Gabby Thomas finishes in the 100m will be key for the event standings since she picked up right where she left off from 2024 in the Kingston opener.

Watch for Favour Ofili, who was sixth in the 200m at the Olympics, since she’s riding the momentum of a 10.99 (+0.4 m/s wind) victory at LSU last weekend and also a 22.34 for 200m on April 18th (currently No. 4 in the world).

Men’s Long Sprints | Welcome, Steven Gardiner!

(200m on Friday at 6:40 p.m. | 400m on Saturday at 5:56 p.m.)

Racers: 🇬🇧 Matthew Hudson-Smith, 🇿🇲 Muzala Samukonga, 🇧🇸 Steven Gardiner, 🇹🇹 Jereem Richards

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Bryce Deadmon, 🇩🇴 Alexander Ogando, 🇺🇸 Jacory Patterson, 🇫🇷 Ryan Zeze

A key development since Kingston is that Olympic champion Quincy Hall has opted out of the League after initially signing as a Racer and will race in the Shanghai Diamond League meeting instead this weekend. But one Olympic champion is replaced by another as Steven Gardiner steps in after signing on as a Racer. It’s a compelling addition because Gardiner has not lost a 400m that he’s finished since 2017. Injuries have plagued him at the last two World Championships and Olympics, but there’s no denying that he’s a winner when healthy and already three-for-three in his races this year.

Matthew Hudson-Smith, who was vocal about how he’s tired of finishing second in the 400m and being reminded about it, is the only guy in the field who has ever beaten Gardiner over 400m. Hudson-Smith was able to snatch the Kingston Slam title with a strong 200m victory on the second day but this field is a little deeper in that event with the Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando, who was 5th at the Games in the 200m and has already run 20.11 this season.

Like 2025 breakout star Chris Bailey, fellow American Bryce Deadmon is also on a tear while unsponsored following a season in which he was part of the Olympic gold medal-winning 4x400m relay squad. He was briefly the world leader after his 44.30 at a low-key meet in College Station on April 12th. He followed that up by running a 10.47 personal best for 100m and a 20.84 personal best for 200m the following weekend.

Women’s Long Sprints | Marileidy Wants To Be Back On Top

(400m on Friday at 7:21 p.m. | 200m on Sunday at 4:45 p.m.)

Racers: 🇯🇲 Nickisha Pryce, 🇺🇸 Alexis Holmes, 🇩🇴 Marileidy Paulino, 🇧🇭 Salwa Eid Naser

Challengers: 🇬🇧 Amber Anning, 🇺🇸 Isabella Whittaker, 🇺🇸 Kendall Ellis, 🇯🇲 Stacey Ann Williams

Even with Gabby Thomas moving back down to the women’s short sprints group, this group may be stronger than it was in Kingston. 400m Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino will get her chance to settle the score against Olympic silver medalist Salwa Eid-Naser, who claimed her first career win over the Dominican star with a 48.67 in Kingston. Paulino still owns the 8–1 career edge but she’s 0–1 in 2025 and that certainly did not sit well. Naser will look to continue her statement start to the year and assert herself as the 400m favorite for 2025.

A few more underlying storylines to watch: After a physical 400m final at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, World champion Amber Anning and World Indoor silver medalist Alexis Holmes get a rematch outside. Their training partner and NCAA Indoor champion Isabella Whittaker will make her professional debut after an electric 49.24 solo run to go No. 2 all-time indoors for 400m.

Men’s Short Hurdles | Dylan Beard Is Back

(110m hurdles on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. | 100m on Sunday at 3:55 p.m.)

Racers: 🇺🇸 Freddie Crittenden, 🇫🇷 Sasha Zhoya, 🇺🇸 Daniel Roberts

(Note: Devon Allen is still out for Miami.)

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Trey Cunningham, 🇫🇷 Wilhelm Belocian, 🇺🇸 Jamal Britt, 🇺🇸 Dylan Beard, 🇧🇪 Michael Obasuyi

Dylan Beard, the unsponsored 110m hurdler working for Walmart, earned his spot back in the mix in Miami after winning the 110m hurdles race and taking third in the 100m in Kingston. Given the fact that Olympic champion Grant Holloway mentioned he was coming off an injury from the indoor season, was beaten twice in two weeks, and just scratched from the Shanghai Diamond League this weekend, the American contingent is looking to move into that top spot if Holloway’s struggles continue, because this is always one of the toughest teams to make. (Note: Holloway has a bye for the World Championships as the reigning champion.)

The first Slam title was decided in the 100m, which saw a 0.17-second spread between first and fourth place. Despite the wind, Sasha Zhoya showed he’s got some of the best speed of the bunch and claimed the win in 10.55. Trey Cunningham, who beat Holloway at the Tom Jones Invitational on April 19th, enters as a Challengers and does have a respectable flat 100m personal best of 10.27 from last year.

Women’s Short Hurdles | Wide Open Again

(110m hurdles on Friday at 5:42 p.m. | 100m on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.)

Racers: 🇯🇲 Ackera Nugent, 🇵🇷 Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, 🇺🇸 Masai Russell, 🇫🇷 Cyréna Samba-Mayela

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Keni Harrison, 🇺🇸 Tia Jones, 🇪🇨 Maribel Vanessa Caicedo, 🇺🇸 Alaysha Johnson

I thought we’d have a clearer picture of who has the best flat speed after Kingston but the -3.4m/s wind reading on the 100m threw that race out the window. And much like we’ve seen every time these 100m hurdlers race on the circuit, there’s always a shuffling order among them. Tia Jones returns after winning the 100m hurdles in Kingston in 12.63 and is still undefeated in the event this year. Since Kingston, Olympic champion Masai Russell ran 12.62 for second place at the Tom Jones Invitational so she’s coming into form.

Keni Harrison, the former world record holder and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, can shake things up as a Challenger. She’s in her first season working with ALTIS after leaving Bobby Kersee’s training group and it’s paid some dividends with a flat 100m personal best of 11.24 to open up in March and then won the 100m hurdles at the Mt. SAC Relays in 12.70 (8th-fastest on the year) on April 19th.

Men’s Long Hurdles | Can Dos Santos Be Stopped?

(400m hurdles on Friday at 6:06 p.m. | 400m on Sunday at 4:23 p.m.)

Racers: 🇧🇷 Alison dos Santos, 🇺🇸 Caleb Dean, 🇯🇲 Roshawn Clarke

(Note: Racer Clement Ducos is out after injuring his hamstring in Kingston)

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Trevor Bassitt, 🇯🇲 Malik James-King, 🇺🇸 Chris Robinson, 🇫🇷 Ludvy Vaillant, 🇺🇸 Khallifah Rosser

400m Olympic bronze medalist Alison dos Santos looked great in Kingston and left the weekend with $100,000 and 24 points total, which has him already daydreaming of the extra $100,000 awarded to the most dominant Racer at the end of the year. Not so fast! 2023 NCAA champion Chris Robinson returns as a Challenger. He went out HARD in the men’s 400m and was nipped at the finish line by Dos Santos—45.52 to 45.54. A few weeks later, he ran an eye-popping 44.15 400m, improving his PB by 1.4 seconds in one race, and is currently the world leader. He needs to finish better in the 400m hurdles to have a shot at the Slam title though, since he was 8th in Kingston.

We’ll also see how Caleb Dean and Roshawn Clarke close the gap with an extra month of training.

Women’s Long Hurdles | Sydney McLaughlin Looks To Remain Perfect

(400m hurdles on Saturday at 5:42 p.m. | 400m on Sunday at 5:09 p.m.)

Racers: 🇺🇸 Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 🇺🇸 Shamier Little

(Note: Rushell Clayton and Jasmine Jones are out for this week’s meet.)

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Anna Hall, 🇦🇺 Sarah Carli, 🇧🇪 Naomi Van den Broeck, 🇯🇲 Shiann Salmon, 🇯🇲 Andrenette Knight, 🇺🇸 Cassandra Tate 

It sounds like this will be the last Slam where fans will see Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone contest her specialty event since she tentatively plans to run the short hurdles group in Philadelphia and the long sprints group in Los Angeles. McLaughlin-Levrone will have the opportunity to try and remain perfect and leave the weekend with 48 total points across the first two Slams. She’ll need those points to try and remain in contention for the Racer of the Year title since she may not be as favored in certain events when she switches groups. She won the 400m hurdles in Kingston by 1.83 seconds and the 400m by 1.77 seconds, so she’s once again the heavy favorite in this group.

Shamier Little will make her league and season debut after missing Kingston.

One of the most fun Challengers will be World Championship heptathlon bronze medalist Anna Hall, who will run the 400m and 400m hurdles for the first time since 2023. People may remember that she finished second in the 400m hurdles at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships after winning the heptathlon. She owns personal bests of 50.82 for 400m and 54.42 for the 400m hurdles.

Men’s Short Distance | Closer Races With Deep Challengers

(1500m on Friday at 5:51 p.m. | 800m on Sunday at 7:05 p.m.)

Racers: 🇺🇸 Cole Hocker, 🇬🇧 Josh Kerr, 🇺🇸 Yared Nuguse, 🇨🇦 Marco Arop 

Challengers: 🇰🇪 Timothy Cheruiyot, 🇧🇼 Kethobogile Haingura, 🇿🇦 Tshepo Tshite, 🇦🇺 Peter Bol

At the Kingston Slam, it was easy to watch these races and know who the 1500m specialists and 800m specialists were… except for Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who transcended both groups and stole the show, walking (well, sprinting) away $100,000 richer. The Challenger set for this group could make these much closer races, and now that the league format has played out in practice, the Racers will be better prepared as well. The first race is incredibly important for the final points standings and the Olympic medalists like Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, and Yared Nuguse need to make it honest in the 1500m to leave themselves a bit less work in the 800m. Especially if Marco Arop tries  to take it wire-to-wire again in the 800m, since it was successful in Kingston and he moved from sixth in the standings to second with the 1500m/800m schedule.

There’s good reason to believe this set of Challengers can bridge the gap between the 1500m and 800m:

– Timothy Cheruiyot has had success in both events with a 1:43.11/3:28.28 personal best set and three global championship medals at 1500m.

– 26-year-old Motswana star Kethobogile Haingura is ready for the big stage, with five victories over 800m and a personal best of 1:43.88 on March 19th.

– South Africa’s Tshepo Tshite ran 1:46.84 to win the South African 800m title last weekend and already has run 3:32.02 for 1500m. If there’s a Challenger who can look to repeat what Wanyonyi did in shocking the field in the 1500m, it could be him.

– Peter Bol is starting to look closer to his 2021-22 form that saw him finish fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and then seventh at the World Championships the following year. He just lowered his Australian national record to 1:43.79 at the Australian national championships two weeks ago.

There will be intrigue into what form reigning 1500m World champion and Olympic silver medalist Josh Kerr shows this time around. He revealed that he was dealing with some hip discomfort and while he only ran 1:50.6 for the 800m, he did close his 1500m in 58-51.

Women’s Short Distance | Familiar Foes Race

(1500m on Saturday at 6:22 p.m. | 800m on Sunday at 3:42 p.m.)

Racers: 🇦🇺 Jess Hull, 🇺🇸 Nikki Hiltz, 🇪🇹 Diribe Welteji, 🇰🇪 Mary Moraa 

Challengers: 🇱🇨 Shafiqua Maloney, 🇪🇹 Freweyni Hailu, 🇺🇸 Emily MacKay, 🇨🇦 Lucia Stafford

Diribe Welteji came away with the Slam title after a runner-up finish in the 800m and then a victory in the 1500m. Nikki Hiltz was right there and just missed the win by two points after a third place finish in the 800m. This time, the 1500m comes first so Hiltz could take advantage of being fresh for that one. However, this is a very good crop of Challengers. 

Ethiopia’s Frewenyi Hailu was the 2024 World Indoor Champion and beat Hiltz, Welteji, Emily MacKay, and Lucia Stafford in that final in Glasgow. Somehow, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation left her off the Olympic team and she called them out for it. She didn’t run in Paris and then stormed to a 3:54.16 season’s best at the Rome Diamond League in August (8th-fastest of 2024). This past winter, she opted to focus on the 3000m and clocked the third-fastest time in history in 8:19.98 and then won the World Indoor Championships gold medal, beating Jess Hull in the process.

MacKay is a fun Challenger in the mix as well after running personal bests of 1:57.87 and 3:55.90 for 800m and 1500m last year. She proved her strength this indoor season with personal bests of 8:35.35 for 3000m and then 14:45.81 for 5000m (securing the World Championship qualifying standard).

Another storyline to watch will be Mary Moraa looking to rebound after a last place finish in the 800m and then struggling with dehydration that forced her to scratch from the 1500m the following day. This will be her first career 1500m.

Men’s Long Distance | Is Grant Fisher’s Kick Unstoppable?

(3000m on Friday at 7:01 p.m. | 5000m on Sunday at 4:44 p.m.)

Racers: 🇺🇸 Grant Fisher, 🇰🇪 Ronald Kwemoi

(Note: Luis Grijalva and Hagos Gebriwhet are out for Miami.)

Challengers: 🇺🇸 Cooper Teare, 🇮🇪 Andrew Coscoran, 🇬🇧 George Mills, 🇬🇧 Sam Atkin, 🇪🇷 Dawit Seare, 🇰🇪Amon Kemboi

Grant Fisher gamed the system in Kingston and not everyone was a fan. As he put it, he got paid $100,000 for 2 x 400m with 48 hours rest. He kicked to win the 5000m and then realized with Grand Slam Track’s scoring system, all he had to do was finish third, he let Hagos Gebriwhet and Telahun Bekele run away and then kicked down his pack to secure the bag. Everyone now knows that you can’t let him get away with that. If you want to have a shot at beating him on Day 2, you have to hit him hard and beat him in Round 1.

Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran and Great Britain’s George Mills enter as Challengers with mile personal bests under 3:50, so maybe Fisher will be less hesitant to leave it to a kick against them. Cooper Teare earned another Challenger slot after finishing third in the Kingston Slam standings and just 0.17 seconds behind Fisher in the 5000m and 0.31 seconds behind him in the 3000m. There are minor tactical tweaks to make to alter the outcome and he’s certainly gained confidence from those runs.

Women’s Long Distance | Ethiopia Brings The Big Guns

(5000m on Friday at 6:16 p.m. | 3000m on Sunday at 4:04 p.m.)

Racers: 🇯🇵 Nozomi Tanaka, 🇪🇹 Tsige Gebreselama, 🇰🇪 Agnes Ngetich, 🇺🇸 Elise Cranny

Challengers: 🇪🇹 Aynadis Mebratu, 🇰🇪 Janeth Chepngetich, 🇪🇹 Medina Eisa, 🇪🇹 Hirut Meshesha

At the first Slam, Challenger Ejgayehu Taye stole all the Racers’ thunder with a pair of strong kicks to win the 3000m/5000m double over Agnes Ngetich, but she’s not joining the party in Miami. Instead, a trio of her fellow Ethiopians (plus Racer Tsige Gebreselama) are showing up to continue denying Ngetich, Nozomi Tanaka, and Elise Cranny Champion status. The most lethal threat will likely come from 20-year-old Medina Eisa, who has a 14:16.54 5000m PB and won two road races in two attempts this season in 14:48 for 5km and 29:25 for 10km. But if it’s a kicker’s race, you can’t discount Hirut Meshesha and her 3:54.87 1500m speed. Either way, despite Challenger Janeth Chepngetich’s impressive range (she’s run 8:23.48 for 3000m and 65:15 for the half marathon), it feels highly likely the Slam title will remain in Ethiopian hands.

Be sure to follow along with all of CITIUS MAG’s coverage across Instagram, X, Bluesky, Threads. We’ll have our pre-race show on Thursday and post-race shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday that you can watch on our YouTube. We’ll also have those available for you to listen in podcast form to take on-the-go via the CITIUS MAG Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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