Olympic legend 'risks being SUED by top track athletes over almost £14m in unpaid fees'

Athletes will consider suing Olympic icon Michael Johnson and his Grand Slam Track league if they are not paid the millions they are owed in prize money and appearance fees by the end of the month, according to a report.

Grand Slam Track (GST), which was founded by legendary sprinter Johnson, staged its inaugural season between April and June but was forced to cancel its fourth event in Los Angeles after being hit with a series of alarming financial issues.

The four-time Olympic champion, 58, claimed GST would revolutionise the sport and reward athletes suitably for their achievements. 

According to The Times, the athletes, representatives and suppliers who helped stage the incomplete three-part season are still owed total of £13.9million. 

The financial crisis occurred after GST lost the backing of a significant investor after the first event in Kingston, Jamaica failed to generate revenue sufficiently through sponsorship and ticket sales.

There is reportedly a feeling of anger among GST's athletes that the next two events in Miami and Philadelphia were staged, despite the league being strapped for cash.

The newspaper claims two athletes were even forced to pull out of house purchases as a result of not being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by GST.

Athletes were promised $100,000 (£73,300) for triumphing in their respective events at each of the four meetings, with Johnson initially endorsing the series by announcing a total prize fund of $12million (£8.8m) was on offer for participants.

Johnson, who is hopeful the league will settle its debts by the end of September after securing new sponsorship deals, publicly admitted last month that he had been 'unable to meet' the deadlines for paying athletes and stakeholders.

'We promised that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated,' said Johnson in a statement. 'Yet here we are struggling with our ability to compensate them.' 

Since his announcement, lawyers have been reportedly examining GST on behalf of their clients, while World Athletics chief Lord Coe has revealed the global governing body are also monitoring the situation as it develops.

British sprinter Daryll Neita believes 'all athletes' are still owed money by GST.

'I'm definitely happy I took part in it because I think when I initially was asked to do it, I just saw it as a really amazing opportunity and a great initiative for our sport,' Neita said on Radio 5 Live Breakfast last week.

'I would just hope that ultimately we're all able to get what's owed and I do believe that it will be a positive outcome, I truly do, because it was just such a great initiative and the experience that I had was great.

'They were going out of their way to give us a five-star experience and it was nice to see track developing in that way. It will be nice just to see it become a positive situation as soon as possible for all of us involved.'

Asked if she is still owed money, Neita added: 'I think we all are.'