Now Reading: Johnson defends $500,000 payment, athlete unsure if paid
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Johnson defends $500,000 payment, athlete unsure if paid
Michael Johnson has clarified the $500,000 payment he received days before his Grand Slam Track circuit collapsed, saying it was reimbursement for expenses he paid on his personal credit card. The four-time…
The Story in Brief
Michael Johnson has clarified the $500,000 payment he received days before his Grand Slam Track circuit collapsed, saying it was reimbursement for expenses he paid on his personal credit card. The four-time Olympic champion told the Daily Telegraph he also loaned the company $2 million and forwent his own salary. Grand Slam Track filed for bankruptcy in December after cancelling its final leg. Meanwhile, British Olympic silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith said he has “the memory of a fish” and does not know if he has been paid the $147,500 he is listed as being owed in a court filing. Johnson insists all athletes have been paid $11 million in total.
The Indian Opinion
The duelling narratives around Grand Slam Track's collapse, that Michael Johnson secretly paid himself while athletes went unpaid, or that he sacrificed his own salary to keep the circuit afloat, are both too neat. The truth is messier. Johnson’s explanation of a credit-card reimbursement and a $2 million personal loan deserves scrutiny, but so does the creditors’ filing. An athlete like Matt Hudson-Smith saying he “can’t remember” if he was paid hurts Johnson’s claim that everyone is settled. The bankruptcy court’s final accounting will settle who really lost what.
Sources (2): sportstar.thehindu.com, sportstar.thehindu.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
