Grand Slam Track announced on Wednesday, the signing of Olympic 1,500m Gold Medalist Cole Hocker and Bronze Medalist Yared Nuguse.

After earning medals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the two American middle-distance stars are the most recent pick-ups for Grand Slam Track. In June, they signed fellow 1,500m star Josh Kerr. He earned silver in Paris.

Grand Slam Track, a vision from multiple-time Olympic gold champion Michael Johnson, is finding ways to recruit and capitalize on the success of the sport's current stars.

Hocker has been stellar over 1,500m all summer. He won the U.S. Olympic Trials before stunning Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr with his late kick in the Olympic 1,500m final. He ran 3:27.65 to win the gold, and post the second fastest time ever run by an American.

Similarly, Nuguse also had a dazzling kick in the last 200m of the Olympic 1,500m final. He surpassed Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the race's waning moments and earned his first Olympic medal, a bronze.

Both men are slated to compete in the 1,500m at the Zurich Diamond League meet on Thursday, September 5. They will compete against Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen in what is being called an "Olympic rematch"

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Salary terms were not disclosed for either signing.

“As we all saw this summer, the metric mile is back,” said Michael Johnson, the league’s founder and Commissioner. “Everyone watching the 1500m final in Paris was blown away by the drama of that race, with Cole and Yared ultimately taking home Gold and Bronze. Adding both of them to our stable of Racers, including Silver-medalist Josh Kerr, gives us the incredibly exciting confirmation of seeing that Olympic final again four times in 2025. Grand Slam Track is committed to bringing fans around the world the most exciting roster of Racers possible, and finding out who truly is this fastest. With Yared and Cole joining Josh, we’re delivering on that promise, and these three will form the foundations of an incredibly competitive rivalry for dominance across our four Slams.”

With Hocker, Nuguse and Kerr signing, Grand Slam Track has filled three of their four "short distance" (800m/1,500m) slots, and the questions turns to who could be the last. If Jakob Ingebrigtsen were to sign, he could fill either the "short distance" or "long distance" (3,000m/5,000m) openings.

What Is Grand Slam Track?

Johnson, a four-time Olympic champion, has raised millions of dollars in funding for the track series that will feature 96 athletes competing in four Grand Slam events over the summer starting in 2025. 

Grand Slam has a reported prize pot of $12.6 million and the Category winners of Slam will win $100,000. 

A total of 96 athletes will compete in each Slam, with 48 signed athletes — split between men and women — competing against 48 challengers. Each signed racer, Johnson said, will receive a guaranteed base compensation for being part of the league. 

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