Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson has stated that athletes competing in the now-bankrupt Grand Slam Track (GST) league have received their owed payments. Johnson addressed the situation for the first time since the league voluntarily filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. in December 2025, following the cancellation of its final event in Los Angeles.

Several prominent athletes, including British former world 1500m champion Josh Kerr and 2024 Olympic 400m silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith, were reportedly owed substantial sums, with some figures exceeding £100,000. The Association of Athletics Managers indicated in January that GST faced debts exceeding $30 million.

Johnson, who took on a role with GST, explained in an interview with The Telegraph that a "catastrophic capital issue" arose when investors withdrew their support. He stated that he has "got the athletes paid" and clarified reports concerning his personal financial transactions with the league.

"Our credit card was full at Grand Slam Track, because we were facing significant cash-flow issues," Johnson said. "We had 96 athletes, plus companions, whom we needed to fly to Miami and Philadelphia. We had 170 people to house in hotels in both cities, and the credit card had no room left."

He instructed the travel team to charge expenses to his personal credit card with the understanding that he would be reimbursed. "So, what I received was reimbursement," Johnson stated. He also revealed that he loaned the company $2 million to ensure the athletes were compensated, choosing to forgo his own salary.

These statements come after a March 2026 legal filing by GST's creditors, which accused Johnson of "secretly" paying himself $500,000 days before the league's collapse. A GST representative at the time called these accusations "unfounded and false." Johnson had previously committed to repaying the $500,000 to GST in March.

Johnson expressed the personal toll the situation took, citing sleepless nights and self-doubt. "I definitely had nights where I didn't sleep, where I would be awake thinking: 'This is on me. This headline just came out - do the athletes believe that?'" he shared. "Those things weighed on me very heavily, and on my family as well. I was asking myself: 'Are you stupid? Why did you do this? This is not what you need.' That was the most difficult part of this. Questioning my motivation for doing this, questioning my integrity, questioning my character."

Johnson, a BBC pundit since 2001, had stepped away from his broadcasting duties after the Paris 2024 Olympics to focus on his involvement with GST.