What is the World Athletics Ultimate Championship? All you need to know

The first edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be held in Hungary

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is the newest event on the athletics calendar, and its debut edition is scheduled for September 11 to 13 in Budapest, Hungary. It was first announced back in June 2024 as a season ending, invitation only meet built to bring together the biggest stars in the sport once every couple of years, specifically in years when there is no regular outdoor World Championships.

Unlike a typical global meet, this one is built for television, packed into three compact evening sessions of about three hours each rather than stretched over a nine- or ten-day schedule.

The prize money is also unlike anything track and field has seen before, with a total pot of $10 million on offer, the largest ever at a single meet, and $150,000 going to each event winner.

However, the event will not award winners with gold, silver and bronze medals. Instead, all participants receive a special bracelet token, and event winners receive a trophy that the token physically slots into.

Also Read: Asian Games 2026 – Indian contingent gets grand send-off

Format and Rules

The Ultimate Championship is a small, invite-only field rather than the usual open qualifying system. Track events feature fields of up to 16 athletes, while the 1500m and 5,000m are limited to 12 and field events to eight. There are no entry standards in the traditional sense.

Instead, World Athletics fills the fields using a 12-month qualifying window running from September 2, 2025 to September 1, 2026, based on results at major championships, the Diamond League and world rankings.

Three groups, including the individual gold medallists from the Paris 2024 Olympics, the gold medallists from the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, and the winners of each event at the 2026 Diamond League final in Brussels, automatically qualify. The rest of each field is filled using world rankings from that same window.

What sports are included

The programme covers 28 events across 16 disciplines, split between 16 track events and 10 field events, plus a couple of relays. The following events are included:

• 100m
• 200m
• 400m
• 800m
• 1,500m
• 5,000m
• 110m hurdles
• 400m hurdles
• High jump
• Pole vault
• Long jump
• Triple jump
• Hammer throw
• Javelin
• Mixed 4x100m relay
• Mixed 4x400m relay

Also Read: Asian Games 2026 – Event dates, venue and other details

Top Players featuring in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship

Since the fields are filled almost entirely by champions, the debut edition already reads like an all-star roster. Noah Lyles, who claimed Olympic gold in the 100m and world gold in the 200m, pulled out due to a season-ending injury but has been named an Ultimate Star, taking on the role of event host and creative advisor.

Pole vault great Armand Duplantis, already a multiple-time world record breaker, has qualified as an Olympic champion and was announced as the competition’s first Star Athlete.

Other confirmed names include Olympic and world champions Faith Kipyegon, Letsile Tebogo, Gabby Thomas, Keely Hodgkinson, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Grant Holloway, Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Emmanuel Wanyonyi.

Note: The official field is subject to change.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram