World Athletics Ultimate Championship opens with record $۱۰m prize pot

The “best of the best” in athletics are preparing to compete in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship that gets under way in Budapest this weekend.

The three-day competition will see ۲۶ Olympic champions from Paris, ۲۶ world champions from Tokyo last year, and this season’s top athletes battle it out to be crowned the best in track and field.

Many return to the stomping ground in the Hungarian capital after successes at the ۲۰۲۳ World Championships, while others have racked up global titles after breakout performances throughout the year.

Here’s Al Jazeera’s all-to-know guide to the meet:

Who, what, where and when at the Ultimate Championship?

The Ultimate Championship is an invite-only competition featuring the Olympic gold medallist, World Championship gold medallist, Diamond League winners, and the best performers of ۲۰۲۶ based on the World Rankings qualification system.

It runs from September ۱۱-۱۳ in Budapest and will become a biennial feature in World Athletics’ calendar. The sport’s global governing body chose ۲۰۲۶ to launch the event in between the World Championships, and, in Olympic years, use it to round out a highly competitive season.

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, an ambassador for the event, said it was “great to see track and field going in a different direction”.

“It’s going to be great to see the best of the best,” the eight-time Olympic gold medallist said at a news conference on Thursday before the event.

“This was one of my greatest things. I’ve always lived to compete against the best and I would thrive in this moment.”

What is the Ultimate Championship prize pot?

The $۱۰m prize pot will see winners of each event bag a record $۱۵۰,۰۰۰.

That’s more than double the $۷۰,۰۰۰ given at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, and three times what was awarded by World Athletics to Olympic champions in Paris. Second place takes home $۷۵,۰۰۰, third place $۴۰,۰۰۰, all the way to $۲,۰۰۰ for ۱۶th-place finishers.

Relay teams will split $۸۰,۰۰۰ among themselves, followed by $۴۰,۰۰۰ and $۲۴,۰۰۰ for second and third place, respectively.

The Ultimate Champion also walks away with global “bragging rights”, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said before the event as he explained its significance to the sport.

What’s new at the Ultimate Championship?  

For one, there are no medals. It’s part of World Athletics’ “reimagining of awards” that replaces the traditional accolade with a customised trophy for the Ultimate Champions based on individual tokens.

All events will be direct semifinals or finals rather than starting off as heats. Athletes competing in the men’s and women’s ۲۰۰m will select their preferred semifinal heat and lane based on their seed order.

A tie for first place in a vertical jump will be decided by a jump-off rather than be shared, while athletes in throwing events will have four attempts down from the typical six, that too in the ۸:۸:۶:۴ model.

The mixed ۴×۱۰۰-metre relay will feature in Budapest after its debut at the World Relays earlier this year, with each quartet competing in national kits.

Why is Ultimate Championship getting criticism from a few athletes?

A number of events have been excluded from the Ultimate Championship, including shot put, triple jump, women’s hammer throw, and discus throw, as well as long-distance track events like ۳,۰۰۰-metre steeplechase and ۱۰,۰۰۰-metre.

World Athletics said its decision was based on viewership and priority for faster-paced events.

Olympic discus champion Matthew Denny and former world champion and two-time triple jump champion Pedro Pichardo were among the athletes who lamented the decision on social media.

Denny, current world number two, explained that the prize money “can change a career and a life” and implored World Athletics to reconsider its stance on public interest driven by its own statistics.

“Innovation should not come at the expense of opportunity.”

World record watch

These athletes are already the creme de la creme in their field and are most likely to set a world record, based on this year’s performance:

• Men’s Pole Vault: None other than Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, who has broken the world record ۱۵ times and most recently this March.
• Men’s ۸۰۰m: World lead Emanuel Wanyonyi has repeatedly threatened fellow Kenyan David Rudisha’s ۱:۴۰.۹۱ set at the London ۲۰۱۲ Olympics.
• Women’s ۸۰۰m: Audrey Werro is fresh off her ۱:۵۳.۷۰ set on home soil at the Zurich Diamond League in August. The Swiss’s time is third all-time and dangerously close to the ۱:۵۳.۲۸ set by Jarmila Kratochvilova in ۱۹۸۳.
• Men’s ۴۰۰m hurdles: Brazil’s Alison dos Santos recently smashed the record in Zurich, five years after Norway’s Karsten Warholm clocked ۴۵.۹۴ at the Tokyo Olympics.
• Women’s ۱۰۰m hurdles: Zurich magic extended to the women’s ۱۰۰m hurdles as USA’s Masai Russell stormed to a ۱۲.۰۹ to cap off ۱۲ straight wins this season.