The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a brand-new athletics competition designed to bring the sport’s biggest stars together for one final showdown at the end of the season.
Taking place in Budapest from 11–13 September 2026, the inaugural edition of the event will pit Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League winners against one another.
Here’s all you need to know about the groundbreaking event.
What is the history of the event?
The Ultimate Championship is the newest major addition to the global athletics calendar.
World Athletics created the event to provide a season-ending championship in years when there is no outdoor World Athletics Championships.
The Ultimate Championships, first announced in June 2024, have been founded with the aim of appealing to a younger audience through streamlined sessions featuring popular events.
World Athletics president and Team GB Olympian, Sebastian Coe has described the new competition as “the next major global flagship outdoor track and field championship in the calendar,” and added that it will give every season “a meaningful conclusion.”
The total purse at this year’s meet will be $10 million, with gold medallists winning $150,000.
What are the events that are included?
The championship features 28 events across three evening sessions, with the programme designed to keep the action moving quickly.
There are men’s and women’s 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m races, alongside the 100m/110m hurdles and 400m hurdles.
Field events include high jump, pole vault, long jump and javelin, plus women’s triple jump and men’s hammer throw.
There are also mixed 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
Unlike a traditional championship, there are no heats before every event.
Certain track disciplines will have two semi-finals before a final, while the 1500m, 5000m and relays are straight finals.
Where is it being hosted?
The inaugural championship will be staged at Budapest’s National Athletics Centre, the stadium built for the 2023 World Championships on the east bank of the Danube.
The stadium will provide the setting for three evening sessions of competition, with Friday’s session scheduled to run from 7pm until 10pm local time, while Saturday and Sunday’s sessions will take place between 6pm and 9pm.
How do athletes qualify for the event?
Qualification is deliberately different from a normal World Championships.
The ways an athlete can qualify are through:
Winning an individual gold medal from Paris 2024 or the Tokyo 2025 World Championships
Winning their event at the 2026 Diamond League Final in Brussels
Their position in the World Athletics rankings during the qualification period, which runs from 2 Sept 2025 to 1 Sept 2026
Receiving an exceptional invitation.
This means athletes do not necessarily need to qualify through a national trial and there is also no limit on how many athletes from one country can compete in an individual event.
The mixed relays have a separate system: the top six teams from the 2026 World Athletics Relays automatically qualify, with the remaining two places determined by performances during the qualifying period between 22 August 2025 and 1 September 2026.
Only one team can qualify per-country in relays.
Which British athletes will feature?
Great Britain & Northern Ireland is set to have a strong presence in Budapest.
Keely Hodgkinson is already qualified for the women’s 800m because she won Olympic gold in Paris.
Josh Kerr is another major British attraction and is set to face Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m after both men received an exceptional invitation.
There is potential for more athletes, such as world silver medallist Amy Hunt and European 100m champion Romell Glave, to be there once the qualification period has passed and those qualifying through their world ranking can be confirmed.
Great Britain & Northern Ireland qualified for the mixed 4x400m after finishing third at the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana.
For those wondering where to watch, all three days will be shown live on the BBC and available to stream on iPlayer.
Sportsbeat 2026