From empty stands and absent superstars to modern codecs and strange match-ups – did the inaugural Grand Slam Monitor assembly ship?
The 12 athletes who left Kingston, Jamaica this weekend with a further $100,000 (£77,500) after competing in simply two occasions would possibly recommend it was an enormous success.
Nevertheless, enormous swathes of empty seats on the Nationwide Stadium led to the sensation that the modern new format, the brainchild of four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson, has work to do with the intention to seize an viewers.
“Clearly, look, let’s be sincere. We might like to see extra spectators right here, you realize?” Johnson mentioned.
“We predict we’ll get that, we expect that’ll occur. However the crowd was engaged, and that is what’s actually vital. Folks had been actually engaged with what’s occurring right here.”
American Johnson mentioned he launched the idea, broadcast on TNT Sports activities within the UK, in a bid to keep up the eye and pleasure athletics generates each 4 years on the Olympics.
The occasion in Jamaica was the primary of 4 scheduled three-day occasions – every of the following three happen in the US – and Johnson was happy with the way it performed out, though he admitted there are points to iron out.
“All the things went clean from a contest standpoint,” Johnson added. “However we had just a few issues behind the scenes that we did not like.
“Different individuals most likely did not discover it, however we did. We are going to have a look at all the pieces. We seen numerous various things. However these aren’t the issues we’ll get into proper now.
“Proper now we’re simply celebrating that we had an excellent occasion, athletes and followers loved it. We’ll proceed to enhance.”