How the inaugural Ultimate Championship will look like
Athletics
By
Stephen Rutto
| May 07, 2025
The athletics world is waiting with bated breath for the new, mouthwatering global championship set for September 2026, just one year after the Tokyo action.
The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship is already sparking debate, yet it is more than 480 days away.
All eyes will be on Budapest's National Athletics Centre for the three days of adrenaline-packed action from September 11-13, 2026.
It will be a biennial event that will ensure one pinnacle of athletics events annually as action will be oscillating between the World Athletics Championships and the new Ultimate showpiece.
Already, expectations are high because the world's track and field assassins have been assembled for an event that will settle many debates in the athletics circles.
Some 28 track and field events have been lined up and 360 star athletes will be eyeing victories and rich prize money in the inaugural championship which will be staged in the Hungarian capital that hosted the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The first 26 qualified athletes have been named and the distribution of finals has been confirmed to kick off the 500-day countdown for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
The inaugural Ultimate Championships has been designed to feature finals; there will be no heats but semi-finals.
A programme released recently shows that action will feature women's and men's competition in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, high hurdles, 400m hurdles, pole vault, high jump, long jump and javelin, as well as the women's triple jump, men's hammer throw, and mixed 4x100m and 4x400m.
World Athletics says the Ultimate Championship will be the pinnacle of the 2026 track and field season.
It will pit world champions and Olympic champions against Diamond League winners and the 2026 best performing athletes.
According to the global athletics body, 26 athletes have already automatically qualified as reigning individual Olympic champions.
Kenyan stars; Olympic champions Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet and Emmanuel Wanyonyi have already qualified for the ultimate contest.
Last June, World Athletics announced the launch of the Ultimate Championship, and described it as a groundbreaking new global show set to transform the athletics calendar.
"Highlighting this revolutionary competition is a record-setting prize purse of US$10 million (Sh1.29 billion), the largest ever offered in the history of track & field athletics - with gold medallists set to receive US$150,000. This innovative event, debuting September 11-13, 2026 and set to be held every two years, will first be hosted in Hungary's capital city of Budapest, promising a spectacular conclusion to the summer athletics season," says World Athletics.
The global body also says that the Ultimate Championship is primed to to set a new benchmark for financial rewards in the sport.
At the end of the three-day action, an overall ultimate champion will be awarded US$150,000 (Sh19 million) each.
"With only the best of the best on show and cutting straight to semi-finals and finals, we will create an immediate pressure to perform for athletes aiming to claim the title of the ultimate champion," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, said. He added: "The World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be high on action and excitement for fans, setting a new standard for track and field events. Featuring athletics' biggest stars, it will be a must-watch global sports event and means track and field will host a major global championship in every single year, ensuring for the first time that athletics will enjoy a moment of maximum audience reach on an annual basis."
Budapest was awarded hosting rights after a successful 2023 World Championships.
On the track, the semifinals will star eight athletes, and only the top four in each will make it through to the final, reports say.
The 1500m, 5000m and relay races will be straight finals; there will be no second chances.