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Michael Johnson’s GST organization has strongly denied reports that the former American sprinter received $2 million from the competition while athletes were not compensated, labeling these claims as completely untrue.

Instead, the organization claimed that Johnson himself faced financial losses throughout the venture.

Athletes and Suppliers Await Compensation

The four-time Olympic gold medalist is now facing the possibility of lawsuits from competitors, agents, and vendors who supported the series events.

Insiders indicate that outstanding debts may reach up to $19 million, with multiple competitors allegedly unable to proceed from major purchases due to missing prize money.

Many participants now fear they will never receive the funds they were promised.

Johnson’s Spokesperson Clarifies

An official spokesperson for Johnson emphasized that, contrary to rumors, the sprint legend did receive no income from the series.

“The rumors that Michael Johnson received $2 million or profited in any manner from GST are categorically false,” they stated. “Actually, Johnson has invested more than $2 million of his personal funds into the initiative.”

The representative continued, “Our team is striving to secure more financial support, and Johnson has asked for understanding while we resolve this matter.”

Inception and Termination of the Event

The series was launched amid high expectations in Kingston last spring, promising athletes as much as $100,000 for winning their races, along with extra compensation for official “racers”.

However, the competition was cancelled prior to the fourth meeting in Los Angeles, after the organizer revealed that a major backer had pulled funding due to poor turnout at the Kingston event.

While the next events in Florida and Pennsylvania were seen as successful, the economic condition had by then become critical.

Future and Ongoing Situation

Johnson remains hopeful that the competition can relaunch in the coming years and aims to resolve all remaining payments by the close of September.

Nonetheless, legal experts are already examining the situation, and World Athletics president, leader of the international governing body, has commented that they are closely monitoring the developments.

Recently, Johnson acknowledged that he had disappointed the athletes involved, saying: “It is very hard to live with the reality that you’ve built something bigger than yourself while knowing you’ve failed the very people you intended to help.”

He continued, “We committed that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated. But, here we are facing challenges with our capacity to compensate them.”