Grand Slam Track receives emergency funding to pay half of what athletes are owed

October 3, 2025

As the end-of-September payment deadline approached, Grand Slam Track (GST) still owed athletes and vendors from its three Slam meets a reported US$19 million. On Friday, Front Office Sports reported that the startup has secured an emergency cash infusion to cover half of that shortfall.

According to the report, a group of existing investors has provided up to eight figures in financing. The funding won’t cover the entire debt (about $11 million owed to athletes and $8 million to vendors), but GST says it has wired athletes half of the outstanding payments on Oct. 3 and now plans to address some of its vendor obligations.

The rescue effort was led by Winners Alliance, an American sports business firm that sought five to $10 million in emergency funding from investors and fronted the cash to keep GST employees paid. GST says roughly $5.5 million of the new funding will go directly to athletes, covering prize money and appearance fees from the three events held earlier this year. Each athlete will receive half of what they are owed. Canadian Running