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Speculation Grows as USATF Might Bring Back Track Meet Where Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Outpaced Gabby Thomas

Originally posted on EssentiallySports
By Krushna Prasad Pattnaik | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 9:54 AM ET

The LA Grand Prix began making moves after its debut in 2023. In 2024, the event amassed 846,000 viewers on NBC. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas also clashed at the event, making it an even more memorable moment. And while people were anticipating more such drama from the stars in 2025, the LA Grand Prix ended up getting cancelled. It was a heavy blow to the track and field fans in Los Angeles because the year witnessed the cancellation of not just the LA Grand Prix but also the final stint of Grand Slam Track.

But now, the world is starting to rejoice and re-energize to welcome the athletes to LA in 2026. You read that right! The USATF LA Grand Prix is slated to make a return on 14 June 2026, right after the Continental Tour Gold USATF New York Grand Prix. It’s worth noting that the USATF events calendar doesn’t really show these two events. But the events calendar for World Athletics marked these as the World Athletics Continental Tour – Gold events. Now, you must be wondering what exactly made USATF return to Los Angeles.

Back in June 2025, the CEO of USATF, Max Siegel, had a message for the Associated Press. He claimed that holding two major track meets at the same venue in Los Angeles within just three weeks was not a viable move. And he was right! Imagine having your favorite athletes get exhausted training for one event and underperform in the next one.

Nevertheless, like he said, Siegel understood the market in LA and is about to bring back the LA Grand Prix in the upcoming season. Given the anticipation that’s rising amongst the track and field community, we can certainly expect the attendance to be pretty high. And we’d also get to witness stars like Ryan Crouser and Rai Benjamin rock the stadium with their performances, just like they did in the previous years.

But do you know what attracted the public to the 2024 LA Grand Prix?

Star attractions at the 2024 USATF LA Grand Prix

The Drake Stadium at UCLA attracted 296,000 people live on CNBC to watch the USA Gymnastics Core Hydration Classic. The next day, around 805,000 people tuned in to watch the highlights on NBC. Compared to that, the LA Grand Prix crunched these numbers in 2024. And the reason? It was all because of the star factors like Rai Benjamin and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

McLaughlin-Levrone ran her personal best in the 200m at the USATF LA Grand Prix in just 22.07 seconds. During that time, this was the world’s second fastest time in 2025. While McLaughlin-Levrone secured the gold, Gabby Thomas was significantly slower and finished the race in sixth position. But Thomas ensured that she exacted revenge and beat McLaughlin-Levrone at the Paris Olympics. Meanwhile, Rai Benjamin led the men’s 400m race, and Halimaah Nakaayi dominated the women’s 800m.

Even though the ticket sales were poor, the event had modest attendance, with around 5500-6000 people in the Drake Stadium last year. With the anticipation for Crouser’s record-breaking shot put throw, we can expect this number to rise in the 2026 season. After all, with the cancellation in 2025, the fans in LA are desperately waiting for an event. Would you get a ticket to the 2026 LA Grand Prix?

This article first appeared on EssentiallySports and was syndicated with permission.

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