Salwa Eid Naser and the gift of Grand Slam track

Salwa Eid Nasser and the gift of a Grand Slam track

Grand Slam Track is different. That’s the tenet that has been marketed by the team led by Olympic Gold medallist Michael Johnson. And with difference comes change and adaptability by the fans consuming the content. That’s why, for the most part, change is done in bits and pieces so people can have time to soak things in.

Fans need to grasp many things about Grand Slam Track from the outset, including the event type, how the points are calculated, and which athletes will get the largest of the most significant prize money ever distributed in a Track meet. However, one of the changes made was that top athletes got to run in the first week of April, which typically isn’t the case, considering they build themselves towards the World Championships, and in this case, it’s in September.

So, typically, you will not see a Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone run in the first week of April ( her first race last year was in late April, and her first in her signature event—the 400 mH—was in the third week of May 2024), or even Gabby Thomas or Oblique Seville. Invariably, that meant that the athletes who had tuned their bodies with some races in the last few weeks had a slight edge.

That brings us to Salwa Eid Naser. Her story has been nothing short of splendid. She’s one athlete who can say GST has been a gift to her. Naser didn’t smile right away after winning the women’s 400m long sprints. She crossed the finish line, slowed to a jog, and took a deep breath. The clock read 48.67 — the fastest women’s 400m time in the world this year. But it wasn’t just about the time. It was about everything that came before it.

For months, Naser has been trying to find her rhythm. She opened her season in March with a sharp 48.94 in Bayaguane, but she knew she could go faster. Then she arrived at the Grand Slam Track meet, a series that’s shaking up track and field with big money, high-stakes matchups, and early-season fireworks.

Here, she wasn’t running against the clock. She was running against Gabby Thomas and Marileidy Paulino — Olympic champions with strong finishes and global medals. But Naser wasn’t intimidated. She took control from the gun.

It didn’t matter that Paulino hadn’t lost a 400m since 2023. It didn’t matter that Thomas, the Olympic 200m Gold medalist, had just taken the 200m title the day before. By the final bend, Naser had opened a gap. By the final 100 meters, she was gone.

“I was so mad at myself yesterday,” Naser said. “I knew I had more.”

This time, she didn’t hold back.

And yet, in a twist only Grand Slam Track could produce, she didn’t walk away with the $100,000 top prize. That went to Gabby Thomas, who ran a lifetime best of 49.14 to finish second and locked in the overall win thanks to the meet’s point system of 20 to Salwa’s 17. One event win plus a top-five finish in another guarantees the bonus — a setup designed to reward range and consistency.

Still, there was no mistaking who had the performance of the night. Naser’s 48.67 wasn’t just fast — it was commanding. In April, most athletes are still easing into competition. But Naser looked like it was a championship final. That’s what Grand Slam Track has made possible.

The sport has long struggled with keeping its stars active and visible outside the major championships. Top sprinters often avoid head-to-head matchups until late summer, while early-season meets come and go with few fireworks. But GST is rewriting that approach by offering a serious prize purse, bold marketing, and more importantly, real races.

Without this format, Thomas likely wouldn’t have stepped into an open 400 this early in the season. Without it, Paulino may not have been pushed this hard in April. And without it, Naser’s back-to-back sub-49s would’ve been buried in a meet with no fanfare.

But GST gave Naser a platform — and she seized it.

There’s something refreshing about seeing athletes actually want to race. No dodging. No soft lanes. No pacing for future goals. Just people showing up in shape and ready to go.

For Naser, that mattered. She’s been in the shadows for a while. She’s dealt with ups and downs, including time away from the sport. But her form has returned. Her hunger, too. She may not have claimed the biggest check of the night, but she left the strongest impression.

And perhaps, more than anything, she left with something far more valuable: belief.