500 days to go: Ultimate Championship finals rundown and qualified athletes revealed
The first 26 qualified athletes have been named and the distribution of finals has been confirmed to kick off the 500-day countdown for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
Three days, 28 events, some 360 star athletes and one record-setting prize pot. All eyes will be on Budapest’s National Athletics Centre on 11-13 September 2026, when the world’s greatest will settle the debate.
FINALS BY SESSION
In the battle to determine the champion of champions, the world’s best athletes will clash in 28 events across three action-packed sessions of competition.
The programme will feature women’s and men’s competition in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, high hurdles, 400m hurdles, pole vault, high jump, long jump and javelin, as well as the women’s triple jump, men’s hammer throw, and mixed 4x100m and 4x400m.
Every moment counts. Each session will be stacked with finals* – no heats, no easing in.
On the track, the semifinals will star eight athletes, and only the top four in each will make it through to the final. The 1500m, 5000m and relay races will be straight finals – no second chances.
THE FINALS:
Friday 11 September• Men’s 5000m• Women’s 100m hurdles• Men’s 110m hurdles• Women’s high jump• Men’s pole vault• Women’s long jump• Men’s hammer throw• Mixed 4x100m relay• Mixed 4x400m relay
Saturday 12 September• Women’s 100m• Men’s 100m• Women’s 800m• Women’s 1500m• Women’s 400m hurdles• Men’s 400m hurdles• Women’s pole vault• Men’s long jump• Women’s javelin throw
Sunday 13 September• Women’s 200m• Men’s 200m• Women’s 400m• Men’s 400m• Men’s 800m• Men’s 1500m• Women’s 5000m• Men’s high jump• Women’s triple jump• Men’s javelin throw
Three sessions of high-octane action, each of about three hours in duration. The Ultimate Championship will be a non-stop passion-fuelled festival of track and field.
OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS: QUALIFIED
As the pinnacle of the 2026 track and field season, the Ultimate Championship will pit world champions and Olympic champions against Wanda Diamond League winners and the year’s best performing athletes, to crown the ultimate champion.
Twenty-six athletes have already automatically qualified as reigning individual Olympic champions:
• 100m: Julien Alfred (LCA) and Noah Lyles (USA)• 200m: Gabby Thomas (USA) and Letsile Tebogo (BOT)• 400m: Marileidy Paulino (DOM) and Quincy Hall (USA)• 800m: Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) and Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN)• 1500m: Faith Kipyegon (KEN) and Cole Hocker (USA)• 5000m: Beatrice Chebet (KEN) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)• 100m/110m hurdles: Masai Russell (USA) and Grant Holloway (USA)• 400m hurdles: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) and Rai Benjamin (USA)• High jump: Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR) and Hamish Kerr (NZL)• Pole vault: Nina Kennedy (AUS) and Mondo Duplantis (SWE)• Long jump: Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA) and Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE)• Women’s triple jump: Thea LaFond (DMA)• Men’s hammer: Ethan Katzberg (CAN)• Javelin: Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) and Arshad Nadeem (PAK)
The list of qualified athletes will also include:• 26 world champions from the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25• 25 Diamond League Final winners from the 2026 season• The best performers of 2026
There’s no cap on how many stars from each country can compete in each event.
In the mixed 4x100m and 4x400m, teams will be able to qualify automatically via the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Botswana.
US$10 MILLION PRIZE POT
The stakes are high. Athletes will battle for their share of a record-setting prize pot of US$10 million, the largest ever offered in a single track and field event.
Every athlete lining up in Budapest will be rewarded for their performance, but there can only be one winner. Every ultimate champion will walk away with the top prize of US$150,000.
Partnerships and enhanced promotional rights for athletes will also unlock greater financial opportunities for the stars and the sport.
Prize money breakdown (figures in USD)
Individual: 1st $150,000; 2nd $75,000; 3rd $40,000; 4th $25,000; 5th $16,000; 6th $14,000; 7th $12,000; 8th $10,000; 9th $9,000; 10th $8,000; 11th $7,000; 12th $6,000; 13th $5,000; 14th $4,000; 15th $3,000; 16th $2,000
Relays: 1st $80,000; 2nd $40,000; 3rd $24,000; 4th $20,000; 5th $16,000; 6th $14,000; 7th $10,000; 8th $8,000
World Athletics will oversee the event’s production and all broadcast partnerships with a priority on ensuring fans everywhere can tune in via free-to-air television and digital platforms. With Tata Communications and HBS as host broadcaster, the Ultimate Championship will light up the Budapest National Athletics Centre and screens across the globe.
All action, from start to finish. The stage is set for the extraordinary.
World Athletics
*Full timetable and running order yet to be released
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About the World Athletics Ultimate Championship
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a ground-breaking new global contest designed to determine the very best of the best. Staged every two years, the event will provide a spectacular conclusion to the summer athletics season, in the years where there is no World Athletics Championships. The event launches in 2026, when Budapest’s National Athletics Centre will welcome the world from 11-13 September. Qualified athletes will include Olympic champions, world champions, Diamond League Final winners and the year’s best performers. Three sessions, each of around three hours in duration, will take place across three days and will showcase jumps, throws and track finals. All action, from start to finish.
