The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships are set to take place in Budapest with a 1500m battle between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr expected to be among the highlights.
The new competition, which will bring the top level 2026 track season to a close, should see most of the sport’s biggest names face off across three days of action in the Hungarian capital and there is significant prize money up for grabs.
Here is everything you need to know about the competition.
What is the World Athletics Ultimate Championships?
It is a new concept intended to fill the void in non-Olympic or World Championship years, designed to pit the biggest names against each other for what World Athletics have said is the biggest prize pot in track and field.
What is the format?
The idea is to make it fast-paced and action-packed to keep viewers engaged.
Two semi-finals in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 100m hurdles/110m hurdles and 400m hurdles will feature eight athletes and the top four in each will make it through to the final. The 1500m, 5000m and relays will be straight finals.
All field events will be straight finals. World Athletics say that the horizontal jumps and throws will feature four rounds, with each of the eight athletes guaranteed two attempts.
Who has qualified?
The biggest names in the sport, presuming they are fit and firing.
To be involved you must be an Olympic champion from Paris, such as Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m, a gold medallist at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, a 2026 Diamond League winner or inside the top 12 of World Athletics rankings.
A lowdown on the latest standings are available here – although in a commitment to ensuring big head-to-head clashes wildcards have been given to British star Kerr and his great Norwegian rival Ingebrigtsen to compete in the 1500m.
When does the competition take place?
The event will be spread across three days at Budapest’s National Athletics Centre and will run from Friday 11 September Sunday 13 with three-hour sessions each evening.
World Athletics Ultimate Championships schedule
(all times BST)
Friday 11 September: 18:00 – 21:00
18:08: 4×100 relay (mixed) – final
18:13: High jump (women) – final
18:19: 400m (men) – semi-final
18:23: Hammer throw (men) – final
18:38: 400m (women) – semi-final
19:04: 100m hurdles (women) – semi-final
19:08: Pole vault (men) – final)
19:21: 110m hurdles (men) – semi-final
19:36: 5,000m (men) – final
19:53: Long jump (women) – final
19:57: 800m (women) – semi-final
20:20: 100m hurdles (women) – final
20:49: 110m hurdles (men) – final
Saturday 11 September: 17:00 – 20:00
17:08: 400m (women) – final
17:13: Javelin (women) – final
17:18: 400m (men) – final
17:26: 800m (men) – semi-final
17:43: Pole vault (women) – final
17:46: 400m hurdles (women) – semi-final
18:04: 100m (women) – semi-final
18:21: 100m (men) – semi-final
18:36: 1,500m (women) – final
18:44: Long jump (men) – final)
18:57: 400m hurdle (men) – semi-final
19:18: 800m (women) – final
19:38: 100m (women) – final
19:49: 100m (men) – final
Sunday 11 September: 17:00 – 20:00
17:08: 400m hurdles (women) – final
17:13: Javelin (men) – final
17:18: 200m (men) – semi-final
17:36: 400m hurdles (men) – final
17:44: 200m (women) – semi-final
18:04: High jump (men) – final
18:10: 5,000m (women) – final
18:34: Triple Jump (women) – final
18:41: 800m (men) – final
18:53: 4x400m relay (mixed) – final
19:12: 1,500m (men) – final
19:38: 200m (men) – final
19:49: 200m (women) – final
How can I watch?
For fans in the UK, all three days will be shown live by the BBC. The first two day’s action will be live on BBC Two and Sunday night’s session shown live on BBC One. All three days’ action will also be available to stream on iPlayer.
What is the prize money?
World Athletics are promising a record prize pot of $10m (£7.3m) for the entire chammpionships with top prizes of $150,000 (£110,000) for the winners of the individual events.
Rank
Individual
Relays
1st
$150,000
$80,000
2nd
$75,000
$40,000
3rd
$40,000
$24,000
4th
$25,000
$20,000
5th
$16,000
$16,000
6th
$14,000
$14,000
7th
$12,000
$10,000
8th
$10,000
$8,000
9th
$9,000
–
10th
$8,000
–
11th
$7,000
–
12th
$6,000
–
13th
$5,000
14th
$4,000
–
15th
$3,000
–
16th
$2,000
–