ANDREW COSCORAN SAYS he is confident that he will receive the prize money he is owed from the inaugural Grand Slam Track athletics series which abruptly ended due to financial difficulties.

Coscoran won over €50,000 in prize money from the series, which was launched by four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson as a direct challenge to the Diamond League. 

The Dubliner earned $50,000 [€42,739] at the meeting in Miami after winning the 3000m and finishing third over 5000m, meaning he took second overall in the long-distance category, and also finished fourth at the shortened Philadelphia meet, earning himself a further $12,500 [€10,684].

Coscoran explained that a delay in receiving prize money is common in athletics, adding that there was also a lengthy delay in processing his earnings from the World Indoor championships in March where he finished sixth in the men’s 3000m final.

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“I think Grand Slam money will come through,” he said.

“I’m waiting on money from a lot of other events that have happened before Grand Slam.

“My world indoor money, I think maybe that just came through. I was waiting a long time for that.

“The Grand Slam money taking three months to come through, that’s not an unusual thing in the world of athletics. It can take six months for any prize money to come through, so that’s normal. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to come through and I hope Grand Slam is around next year.”

Reports in the United States and Britain indicated that Grand Slam Track’s cancellation was caused by a failure to secure adequate sponsorship and broadcast revenue. Coscoran, however, says he had a positive experience with the series and would like to compete again if it is revived in 2026.

“I think we all got really well taken care of. The food, the hotels, the whole meet itself [was] really, really good. I thought it was great.

“I’m not going to make any comments on the reputation of Grand Slam, but personally, I would like it [to return]. I think my experience of it was only positive so far. I’d love to come back and I’d love to be a part of it if it does come back.”

Returning to the issue of enduring long waits for prize money, Coscoran said that while life as a full-time athlete is expensive, he receives plenty of financial support from sponsors.

“Being an athlete isn’t cheap. We travel around. We go on camps. It costs a lot of money. I’ve been on camp four times this year. Four weeks each on each camp.

“It’s not cheap. Finding the funding to support yourself is difficult at times. I have a few different sources of income. I’m able to get by, I’m not too bad.

“It’s just been the norm in the sport. As long as I’ve been involved in the sport, it just takes a while for money to come through. I have sponsors that take care of me quite well. So I’m not going to be out of pocket. I’m not struggling. I’m able to fund myself, so I’m not too bad.”

Coscoran is in Tokyo preparing for the World Athletics Championships where he will run in the 1500m and 5000m events. The Championships get underway this Saturday 13 September with the 1500m coming up first for Coscoran before his attention turns to the 5000m next week.

The Balbriggan native is happy to be back in Japan’s capital city where he reached the Olympic 1500m semi-final in 2021, and says the schedule in Tokyo works for him as he can prioritise the shorter distance.

“I think that because there is a day break between both events, you can completely finish with 1500 metres and then take us to the final which I hope to be in. It’s a full day of recovery and then the 5000m heat, so it shouldn’t impact on my 1500m performance.

“Potentially, I’ll be a little bit tired in the 5000m, but the main event is 1500m, and the 5000m won’t have any impact on that.

“This whole season has been planned around peaking for the World Championships in the 1500 metres.”