A number of Group GB athletes earned a vastly spectacular payday on the Philadelphia Slam as a part of the Grand Slam Monitor season on the weekend, together with Matthew Hudson-Smith and Josh Kerr
A number of Group GB stars pocketed hefty pay cheques on the Philadelphia Slam, which is a part of the Grand Slam Monitor match masterminded by sprinting legend Michael Johnson. The competitors format pits high observe athletes towards one another in two disciplines over a weekend, corresponding to 100m and 200m sprints, throughout one in every of 12 mixed race classes.
The inaugural slam kicked off in Kingston, Jamaica, in April earlier than shifting to Miami final month. Nonetheless, it was Philadelphia that proved essentially the most worthwhile for British athletes.
Regardless of not competing below the Group GB banner, Josh Kerr obtained his personal again on Cole Hocker for his Paris Video games defeat, pipping the American to the put up by 0.07 seconds within the males’s 1500m race.
The 27-year-old relished his victory and bagged a cool $50K (£37k) for coming second total within the quick distance class, following his fifth-place end within the 800m occasion. Fellow Brit Elliot Giles pocketed $10k (£7.4k) for his efforts in the identical group.
However the standout Group GB athlete in Philadelphia was Matthew Hudson-Smith, who topped the boys’s lengthy sprints group for the second time in three Grand Slam Monitor occasions. The 400m Olympic silver medallist triumphed in his specialist self-discipline and got here fifth within the 200m to take house the $100k (£74k) grand prize.
Zharnell Hughes bagged a cool $50k (£37k) runner-up prize within the quick sprints class. The 29-year-old sprinter secured third place within the males’s 100m and narrowly missed out on first place within the 200m, dropping to American speedster Kenny Bednarek.
Georgia Hunter Bell had a profitable day among the many British ladies on the Philadelphia meet. The Olympic bronze medallist nabbed second place within the ladies’s 800m and fourth within the 1500m, securing a powerful $30k (£22.1k) payday for her efforts.
Dina Asher-Smith wasn’t far behind, taking house barely lower than Bell from the ladies’s quick sprints group. Her fifth-place end within the 100m and fourth within the 200m noticed her stroll away with a tidy $25k (£18.4k).
Twin athletes Laviai and Lina Nielsen additionally had a worthwhile weekend, incomes a mixed $40k (£29.5k). Lina Nielsen triumphed within the 400m race and positioned sixth within the 400m hurdles, netting herself $30k (£22.1k). In the meantime, sister Laviai competed within the 200m and 400m sprints, incomes $10k (£7.4k) after ending eighth in her class.
Regardless of solely Hudson-Smith clinching an total victory, it was a marked enchancment on what British athletes had beforehand earned from the final two Grand Slam Monitor occasions. The whole earnings for the Brits from the Philadelphia Slam amounted to a whopping $305k (£225k).
This was a big enhance from their earlier file of $222.5k (£164k) in Kingston. The inaugural occasion in April noticed British athletes shine, with Hudson-Smith clinching his first lengthy sprints victory and Hughes as soon as once more securing second place within the quick sprints.
The Group GB athletes earned barely much less throughout final month’s occasion in Miami, taking house $212.5k (£156k). Nonetheless, an enormous chunk of that prize pot included Kerr’s $100k (£74k) winnings.
The Grand Slam Monitor season will conclude on the Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, with the occasion being held from June 27 to 29. On the finish of the ultimate meet, one male and one feminine athlete will probably be topped the Racer of the 12 months based mostly on their cumulative factors totals.
