2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship
| 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | 11–13 September 2026 |
| Host city | Budapest, Hungary |
| Venue | National Athletics Centre (Budapest) |
| Level | Senior |
| Type | Outdoor |
| Events | 28 |
The 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary, from 11 to 13 September 2026. Organised by World Athletics, it was an inaugural biennial invitational that featured top athletes in selected disciplines (including defending Olympic and world champions) competing for shares of a US$10 million purse.[1]
Qualification
[edit]The Ultimate Championship is a limited-field invitational, with individual track events limited to 16 entrants, and field events limited to eight entrants. Direct qualification slots are offered to:[2][3]
- The gold medalist from the 2024 Summer Olympics.
- The gold medalist from the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
- The winner of the event at the 2026 Diamond League final.
The remainder of the field in each individual event will be determined by the World Athletics Rankings for the period from 2 September 2025 to 1 September 2026. There is no limit on how many athletes from a single country can be in the field for a single event.[4][5][6]
For relay events, the 2026 World Athletics Relays served as the main qualifier, with the top six teams in its mixed 4 × 400 metres and mixed 4 × 100 metres events qualifying for the Ultimate Championship. Two more teams will qualify based on their performance during the competition period between 22 August 2025 to 1 September 2026. Only one team can qualify per-country in relays.[4][5][6]
The following athletes have automatically qualified for the Ultimate Championship based on winning a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics or 2025 world championships, or winning the Diamond League finals:
Men's
[edit]
Women's
[edit]
Wildcards
[edit]Additionally, several athletes received exceptional invitations to compete at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship.[7] Among the international invitees were Josh Kerr (Great Britain) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway), who were both added to the men's 1500 metres. Their inclusion expanded the field to 13 athletes. Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) was also granted an invitation in the men's high jump. As host nation, Hungary received exceptional invitations for Patrik Enyingi (400 m), Luca Kozák (100 m hurdles), Sára Mátó (400 m hurdles), Boglárka Takács (100 m and 200 m), as well as the Hungarian mixed 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relay teams.
Schedule
[edit]| S | Semi-finals | F | Final |
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Day One—Friday, 11 September 7 PM | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track Events | |||||
| Event | Division Round | Men / Women / Mixed | |||
| 4 × 100 m relay | Final | mixed | |||
| 400 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 400 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m hurdles | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 110 m hurdles | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 5000 m | Final | men | |||
| 800 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m hurdles | Final | women | |||
| 110 m hurdles | Final | men | |||
| Field Events | |||||
| High jump | Final | women | |||
| Hammer throw | Final | men | |||
| Pole vault | Final | men | |||
| Long jump | Final | women | |||
| Day Two—Saturday, 12 September 6 PM | |||||
| Track Events | |||||
| 400 m | Final | women | |||
| 400 m | Final | men | |||
| 800 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 400 m hurdles | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 1500 m | Final | women | |||
| 400 m hurdles | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 800 m | Final | women | |||
| 100 m | Final | women | |||
| 100 m | Final | men | |||
| Field Events | |||||
| Javelin throw | Final | women | |||
| Pole vault | Final | women | |||
| Long jump | Final | men | |||
| Day Three-Sunday, 13 September 6 PM | |||||
| Track Events | |||||
| 400 m hurdles | Final | women | |||
| 200 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 400 m hurdles | Final | men | |||
| 200 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 5000 m | Final | women | |||
| 800 m | Final | men | |||
| 4 × 400 m relay | Final | mixed | |||
| 1500 m | Final | men | |||
| 200 m | Final | men | |||
| 200 m | Final | women | |||
| Field Events | |||||
| Javelin throw | Final | men | |||
| High jump | Final | men | |||
| Triple jump | Final | women | |||
Medal table
[edit]The following table is notional, 1st=gold, 2nd=silver and 3rd=bronze. The champion receiving a trophy as no medals were officially given with second and third place.[9]
* Host nation (Hungary)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 10 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| 2 |  Italy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 |  Great Britain | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 |  Norway | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 |  Botswana | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Greece | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 7 |  Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 |  Ethiopia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
 Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 11 |  Algeria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Brazil | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Dominican Republic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Senegal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Sri Lanka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 |  Australia | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 20 |  Jamaica | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 21 |  Cuba | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 |  Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Canada | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 China | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Grenada | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Hungary* | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Nigeria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Saint Lucia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Slovakia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 30 |  Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 31 |  Colombia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Kenya | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Serbia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (35 entries) | 28 | 28 | 29 | 85 | |
Results
[edit]In the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, medals are not awarded; instead the champion alone received a trophy in each event. Other participants received prize money according to their placings. The tables below show the top three finishers in each event.
Men
[edit]Women
[edit]Mixed
[edit]| Event | Champion | Second | Third | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 100 metres relay |
 United StatesRonnie Baker Anavia Battle Courtney Lindsey Kayla White | 39.64 | Jamaica Ackeem Blake Tina Clayton Kadrian Goldson Jonielle Smith | 39.72 | Great Britain Romell Glave Imani Lansiquot Jeremiah Azu Success Eduan | 40.26 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay |
United States Chris Bailey Alexis Holmes Jacory Patterson Aaliyah Butler | 3:08.32 | Great Britain Ben Jefferies Yemi Mary John Toby Harries Charlotte Henrich | 3:09.40 | Netherlands Jonas Phijffers Lieke Klaver Keenan Blake Myrte van der Schoot | 3:09.57 |
Participating nations
[edit]381 athletes from 65 federations are entered into the championships.[10][11]
| Participating Federations |
|---|
|
References
[edit]- ↑ "World Athletics Ultimate Championship: New event with record prize fund to launch in 2026". BBC Sport. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ↑ "World Athletics unveils new entry rules". Inside the Games. 10 October 2025. Archived from the original on 10 October 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- ↑ Dickinson, Marley (30 October 2025). "World Athletics releases qualifying criteria for 2026 Ultimate Championships". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- 1 2 "'Road to the Ultimate' launches". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Qualification system and 'road to' tool launched for World Athletics Ultimate Championship". World Athletics. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- 1 2 Dickinson, Marley (30 October 2025). "World Athletics releases qualifying criteria for 2026 Ultimate Championships". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ "Exceptional invitations announced for World Athletics Ultimate Championship". worldathletics.org. 24 August 2026. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship schedule World Athletics. 19 December 2025
- ↑ "$10m on line at inaugural Ultimate Championship". BBC.com. 11 September 2026. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
- ↑ "ATHLETES by FEDERATION As of 7 September 2026" (PDF). assets.aws.worldathletics.org. 7 September 2026. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "ATHLETES by EVENT and SEASON BEST As of 7 September 2026" (PDF). assets.aws.worldathletics.org. 7 September 2026. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
External links
[edit]
.jpg){kind=small}
World Championships organised by World Athletics | |
|---|---|
| Outdoor | |
| Indoor | |
| Continental Cup* | |
| U20 | |
| U18 | |
| Cross Country | |
| Race Walking | |
| Women's Road Race | |
| Marathon | |
| Half Marathon | |
| Road Relay | |
| Relays | |
| Ultimate | |
| Road Running | |
