$10m Ultimate Championship debuts in Budapest with new format

A major new event for athletics has arrived, complete with a $10m prize pot. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship starts in Budapest on 11 September, and the sport’s ruling body is presenting it as a means of keeping fans engaged during the intervals between Olympic Games and World Championships.

Athletes who are reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champions compete against each other across three nights of finals, along with a small number of special invites that give some athletes a place despite not qualifying through rankings. The event takes place every two years.

How the Ultimate Championship Works

Over three days, the Ultimate runs on a tight schedule of three-hour sessions, with finals held as plain races in the field events, the 1500m and the 5,000m. Distances under the longer ones, such as the 800m, instead hold semi-finals.

World Athletics made its choices based on popularity and data, including viewer sweat response and pulse rate, and not every discipline was kept. The long-distance events — the 3,000m steeplechase and 10,000m — along with field events such as the shot put and discus, did not make the final list.

The biggest story here is the prize money. World Athletics calls it “the richest prize pot in the history of the sport.”, and the numbers back up the claim. Individual event winners take home $150,000, which works out to more than double what runners received at last year’s World Championships. Second-place finishers earn $75,000, while third place brings in $40,000.

The Format’s Precedent

This isn’t the first time athletics has tried a grand prix-style series. Last year, Michael Johnson’s inaugural Grand Slam Track league attempted to maintain focus on the sport following Paris 2024 while offering lucrative prize money. That series ended after encountering serious financial issues.

World Athletics is backing this one directly. President Sebastian Coe hopes to use it as an “incubator for change” that will shape the future of the sport’s established World Championships.

“It is an attempt to just start experimenting a bit and innovating, with an event that will determine who really is the best of the best,” Coe told BBC Sport. “There’s no guarantee we’re going get everything right, and no guarantee that everything is going to work. In two years, we might look at a slightly different format.”

He is eager to reach out to younger audiences, “We have a responsibility to try and engage new young audiences,” he explained.

What’s New for Athletes and Fans

The Ultimate includes several innovations:

1. A red carpet entrance for athletes on the eve of the championship, with a designated media day featuring press conferences and photoshoots.
2. A lane draft for the 200m, where athletes select their preferred semi-final heat and lane in world rankings order.
3. No medals. Only the Ultimate champions receive a trophy, waiting on a plinth at the end of their event.
4. Adapted TV presentation, including augmented reality, athlete headshots, win probabilities and projected finishing positions.
5. Entertainment elements, with pole vault star Armand Duplantis performing the official song and American sprinter Noah Lyles hosting despite being ruled out by injury.

The black infield exists to keep attention fixed on the action happening right now, with only the parts where athletes are competing standing out from the rest.

The British Team

A team of 22 athletes has been confirmed for the championship by Great Britain. The group is led by Keely Hodgkinson, who is the Olympic 800m champion.

Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol will be among Hodgkinson’s rivals when she competes in the women’s 800m. Hodgkinson claimed European silver behind Werro in August. Georgia Hunter Bell, her training partner, is entered in the 1500m, where she is chasing a fourth major title of 2026, having already won European, Commonwealth and world indoor honours.

Among those racing are Amy Hunt, who competes against global champions such as Julien Alfred, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Gabby Thomas in the 100m and 200m events. The mixed 4x100m relay is part of her programme too.

European gold and silver medallists Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu are among the names entered for the men’s 100m, with world champion Oblique Seville also included. Matthew Hudson-Smith rounds out the field.

The two men, Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, received special permission to take part in the men’s 1500m race, even though they were not chosen through the usual selection process.

Key Dates and Coverage

The BBC is covering the event live across its platforms.

A grand trial has been set forth for athletes and spectators to regard an event that falls outside both the Olympic and World Championship realms as a principal goal. The success of this undertaking rests upon three factors: how well it is carried out, how fully it engages its audience, and whether the sport can endure holding a second major event every two years.

There is enough money at stake to draw notice. The structure is unusual enough to stir interest. Whether it is necessary is still an open matter. For the moment, though, the attention rests on Budapest.

Source: bbc.co.uk

athletics · Budapest · prize money · Ultimate Championship · World Athletics