ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — The United States track and field team might be "one for the ages," but they need to be better known in their own country ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.

The likes of Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles might wow on the European stage and be hailed walking down a street in Monaco, Paris or Zurich, but Coe said the fact he and other outstanding domestic talent went largely incognito at home was worrying just three years out from the Summer Games.

The US track and field team has topped the medals table at the world championships 15 times in the 19 editions held to date. The then-East Germany came out on top in the opening two worlds in 1983 and 1987, Russia dominated in 2001 and Kenya in 2015.

For all of the success of the US team on the international stage, athletics remains a minority sport in the United States, notably on television.

That status was compounded by the failure of Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track series this season.

The new format, featuring only track and no field, supposedly offered up duels between the best and meets took place in 2025 in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia.

But Johnson, a four-time Olympic sprint gold medallist and now a highly-respected pundit, was forced to cancel the fourth and final meeting in Los Angeles "to avoid further losses and start the lengthy process of stabilizing the company to get back on track."

Athletes are yet to be paid their appearance fees and prize money.

The series was able to recruit stars such as US Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder and double Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.