3 months ago
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The final leg of Grand Slam Track - the athletics competition backed by Olympic great Michael Johnson - has been cancelled, sources have told the BBC.
It is understood there were concerns about economics of the deal at the final venue of the 2025 calendar in Los Angeles - the city that will host the 2028 Olympics.
Organisers will instead concentrate on next season's programme.
It is also understood Grand Slam Track (GST) is set to announce new investors to help fund its second season.
The competition was due to run for four meets in its debut season, culminating at University College Los Angeles' Drake Stadium on 28-29 June.
The LA event was in line to follow those in the Jamaican capital of Kingston - which had low ticket sales throughout - and in the USA in Miami and Philadelphia.
The competition featured a host of well-known athletes, including British Olympic sprinters Daryll Neita and Matthew Hudson-Smith, and 1500m world champion Josh Kerr.
Male and female competitors are subdivided into six categories - each containing eight athletes - such as Short Sprints, with the eight featuring in that group competing in the 100m and 200m each weekend.
It offered significant financial incentives, with up to $100,000 (£73,600) on offer for the winners of race categories, as well as salaries for contracted athletes.
GST has suffered controversies in its maiden year. American three-time Olympic champion Gabby Thomas was allegedly abused during the meet in Philadelphia.
And Johnson himself admitted he would "love to see more spectators" after the opening event in Kingston was poorly attended in April.
However, organisers do consider the three meetings that took place a success.
Johnson said when launching the event that while it may not prove a financial success in the short-term, he believed in its long-term viability.
British middle-distance runner Elliot Giles took part in the Philadelphia leg of the competition and told BBC Sport it was a "phenomenal" event.
"The actual experience, the set-up, the hype, the marketing, was brilliant," Giles said.
"I'd love to see it again. Competition is what we need in our sport.
"It's the same as what's happening in boxing now. You get other people involved, new promoters, new people, venture capitalists putting into it, and the sport explodes and then performances come and everything else follows."
