Kenny Bednarek Still Believes ‘Sky’s the Limit’ for Grand Slam Track

Kenny Bednarek still sees a future for beleaguered running startup Grand Slam Track.

The two-time Olympic silver medalist was one of three athletes to write letters in support of Grand Slam’s plan for financial revival after it filed for bankruptcy in December 2025. Bednarek, who would be open to competing in the U.S-based league if it came back, said it gave track runners an opportunity to build their brand in ways that other competitions cannot do. 

“We don’t really have something here in the U.S. to really tap into the American market,” Bednarek tells Front Office Sports. “Most people don’t know who you are unless you transcended the sport. So I thought Grand Slam was a good opportunity to get more eyes on us in the U.S.”

Grand Slam wooed runners like Bednarek with base salaries and groundbreaking prize money promises, but failed to pay them and collapsed over the course of 2025. Bednarek was crowned Grand Slam’s male “Racer of the Year” for sweeping the “short sprints” category at the first three GST stops before the final one was cancelled, earning $100,000 for each of his wins.

Court filings show that the league owed Bednarek $195,000 as of February 2026. Athletes will be paid around 70% of their earnings as part of a recently approved bankruptcy settlement.

The league was Michael Johnson’s attempt to supplant the Diamond League—which largely competes in Europe—and offer more opportunities to race in the United States.

Though Bednarek enjoys the experience of traveling to different countries while competing in the Diamond League, he believes the Grand Slam Track format, with meets mostly taking place in the U.S., makes it easier for athletes to share their own personal storylines. This includes his own upbringing as an adopted child who ran at a JUCO college. 

“With obviously the people running fast and all that, there’d be more interest in the U.S,” Bednarek said. “When you generate more interest in our sport, then that gives us more opportunity as athletes to get more sponsors, more money and just help grow the sport.”

Grand Slam did not have the money it promised athletes, though, earning less than $2 million in revenue and running up over $40 million in debt. It struggled to pay athletes and vendors on time and in full. Grand Slam paid out some of the prize money last year, but still owed more than $7 million to athletes when it went into bankruptcy. The league last month got court approval to pay athletes 70% of what they were still owed, along with 14% to vendors.

GST’s $12.6 million in promised prize money would have been more than the $9.24 million that the Diamond League will pay athletes in 2026, in addition to the base salaries Grand Slam agreed to with select stars like Bednarek. But Bednarek thinks that GST could be more successful if it aimed lower.

“Take one thing, one day at a time. Maybe instead of having the prize money as big as it was before, just start a little bit lower and then build up every single year just to see what is stable,” Bednarek said. “But I think the sky’s the limit with Grand Slam.”

Bednarek will compete on the 2026 Diamond League circuit, kicking off with the May 16 stop in Shanghai, China.

On the Steiner-Puma lawsuit

Bednarek also commented on Abby Steiner, his U.S. teammate at the 2022 World Championships and a fellow 200-meter runner, and her ongoing lawsuit against Puma. Steiner claims that Puma’s shoes caused her career-ending injuries, which Puma has denied.

When asked about whether shoes are becoming a greater concern for athletes, Bednarek said that he personally never experienced any issues with his footwear, and that “they do help.” Bednarek is sponsored by Nike. 

“Everybody’s body is different. Her case is different from everybody else’s case,” Bednarek said. “I’ve never had issues, but that’s not to say that there’s something wrong with [anyone else]. There’s not much I can really speak on that, that’s her own battle that she’s going to fight.”